Characterization of fungal species associated with cladode brown spot on Nopalea cochenillifera in Brazil

LIMA, NELSON BERNARDI; MAHARACHCHIKUMBURA, SAJEEWA; LIMA, NELSON BERNARDI; MAHARACHCHIKUMBURA, SAJEEWA; SILVA, FABIO JUNIOR ARAÚJO; MICHEREFF, SAMI JORGE; SILVA, FABIO JUNIOR ARAÚJO; MICHEREFF, SAMI JORGE; CONFORTO, CINTHIA; CÂMARA, MARCOS PAZ SARAIVA; CONFORTO, CINTHIA; CÂMARA, MARCOS PAZ SARAIVA

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2019 p. 1179 - 1194

0929-1873

Cladode brown spot (CBS) is an important diseaseof Nopalea cochenillifera in the semiarid region ofNortheastern Brazil. It has been reported in several countries,but its etiology is controversial, attributed to a complexof pathogens. Fifty fungal isolates were obtained and identifiedbased onmorphology and phylogeny, through analysisof the ribosomalDNAinternal transcribed spacers (ITS),translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-alpha), β-tubulin (TUB-2), second largest subunit of RNA polymerase (RPB2), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase(GAPDH) and the mating type locus MAT1?2 (ApMAT)partial gene sequences. Seven fungal general and twentyspecies were identified ? Alternaria sp., A. longipes andA. tenuissima; Colletotrichum fructicola and C. siamense;Fusarium lunatum, F. incarnatum, and F. verticillioides;Lasiodiplodia euphorbicola, L. iraniensis, L.pseutheobromae, L. theobromae and Lasiodiplodia sp.;Neofusicoccum batangarum; Neopestalotiopsis australis,N. protearum and Neopestalotiopsis sp.; and Nigrosporasphaerica,N. hainanensis and Nigrospora sp. Four of thesespecies had already been reportedonCactaceae of the genusOpuntia, but only N. batangarum, C. fructicola andC. siamense have been reported to date on the genusNopalea.All isolates were pathogenic to detached cladodesof N. cochenillifera ?Miúda?.Differences in aggressivenesswere observed among the species, with L. iraniensis andF. lunatum characterized as the most aggressive species,whilst F. verticillioides as the least aggressive. This studyprovide important information on the fungi associated withcladode brown spot and improve the strategies for themanagement of disease on N. cochenillifera.