Abstract

The Sicilian coasts provide suitable environmental conditions for production of high-quality tropical and subtropical fruits. In particular, avocado (Persea americana) and mango (Mangifera indica) orchards increased in last years on this area. Postharvest infections of tropical and subtropical fruits commonly occurs wherever the crops are cultivated. Several fungal species are reported as causal agents of anthracnose and stem-end rot. Among these, Botryosphaeria spp. and Colletotrichum spp. are the mostly spread worldwide. In Mediterranean environment, decays caused by several fungal pathogens are reported on plants and fruits of mango, but extensive surveys on avocado orchards were never done. The aims of this study were to determine the occurrence of stem-end rot disease in one of the major avocado growing areas in southern Italy and to identify the fungal species associated with fruits symptoms basing on morphological and molecular analysis. Approximately 100 avocado fruits cv. "Hass" were collected in four orchards in Catania province and incubated in laboratory. Stem-end rot developed from 5 to 10 days. Small pieces of symptomatic flesh from the margin of infected area were placed onto potato dextrose agar. A total of 47 isolates were recovered. Conidia characteristics and colony morphology were determined. Multilocus sequences analysis was performed using beta-tubulin gene, internal transcribed spacers of the ribosomal DNA and translation elongation factor gene (for Botryosphaeria spp.) or histone 3 gene (for Colletotrichum spp.). The molecular analysis allowed the identification of 68% of isolates as Neofusicoccum parvum, 17% as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and 15% as C. fructicola. To our knowledge, these are the first data on occurrence of N. parvum, C. gloeosporioides and C. fructicola associated with stem-end rot of avocado in Europe. Further studies on pathogenicity ability of these species, in pre and postharvest conditions, should be carried out.

Autore Pugliese

• Susca Antonia , Epifani Filomena , Perrone Giancarlo

Tutti gli autori

• Guarnaccia V. ; Aiello D.; Cirvilleri G. ; Polizzi G. ; Susca A. ; Epifani F.; Perrone G.

Titolo volume/Rivista

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Anno di pubblicazione

2015

ISSN

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ISBN

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Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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