Abstract
The fungal pathogen Fusarium circinatum is the causal agent of Pine Pitch Canker (PPC), a disease which seriously affects different species of pine in forests and nurseries worldwide. In Europe, the fungus affects pines in northern Spain and Portugal, and it has also been detected in France and Italy. Here, we report the findings of the first trial investigating the susceptibility of Polish provenances of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L., to infection by F. circinatum. In a greenhouse experiment, 16 Polish provenances of Scots pine were artificially inoculated with F. circinatum and with six other Fusarium species known to infect pine seedlings in nurseries. All pines proved highly susceptible to PPC and displayed different levels of susceptibility to the other Fusarium spp. tested. The findings obtained indicate the potentially strong threat of establishment of an invasive pathogen such as F. circinatum following unintentional introduction into Poland.
Highlights
A substantial increase in the number of newly recognised invasive forest pathogens and of new destructive diseases has recently been noted in forest stands in Europe in the last few decades [1].Among these, the fungal pathogen Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg & O’Donnell may pose a serious threat to the ecological and economic sustainability of forest ecosystems
The results of the present study indicated that if F. circinatum appears in Poland, it will be an important pathogen of P. sylvestris and could affect and kill pine seedlings within a short period of time
The results of the present study indicate that if the fungus F. circinatum reaches Scots pine in Poland nurseries, it will be very damaging and probably kill pine seedlings quite rapidly
Summary
A substantial increase in the number of newly recognised invasive forest pathogens and of new destructive diseases has recently been noted in forest stands in Europe in the last few decades [1].Among these, the fungal pathogen Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg & O’Donnell may pose a serious threat to the ecological and economic sustainability of forest ecosystems. The disease is present in forests in Spain [8] and Portugal [9] and it has been reported in parts of France and Italy [10,11], it has probably subsequently eradicated from both of the latter countries [12,13]. The disease threatens the sustainability of pine forests in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece, among other countries. These areas are at risk, as confirmed by climatic data and host distribution [2,3]. Considering the high level of susceptibility of young pines to the disease, and the ease of infection via seeds or seedlings, the threat of F. circinatum to European nurseries is serious
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