Ceratobasidium sp. AG-A, root pathogen of Calibrachoa hybrida

BORRELLI N.P.; MORENO M.V.; STENGLEIN S.A.; STANCANELLI S.; WRIGHT E.; RIVERA M.C.

Chilean Journal of Agricultural and Animal Sciences

Universidad de Concepción

Año: 2022 vol. 38 p. 207 - 213

Calibrachoa (Calibrachoa hybrida, Solanaceae) is an annual flowering ornamental plant, whichis widely used in landscape design. In October 2019, 5% of the plants grown in a greenhouse inBuenos Aires, Argentina, showed a sudden wilt characterized by chlorosis, loss of turgor, and rootrot. The objective of this study was to identify the causal agent of the disease. Five morphologicallyidentical isolates developed from the roots of wilting plants. One of the isolates was selected andidentified using morphological and molecular markers, while its pathogenicity was confirmed byKoch’s postulates. The obtained results allow concluding that Ceratobasidium sp. AG-A (anamorphRhizoctonia sp.) is the causal agent of the disease. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is thefirst report of Ceratobasidium sp. as pathogen of calibrachoa in the world.