Abstract
Biscogniauxia nummularia (Bull.) Kuntze is a fungus which induces strip-cankers on beech, commonly referred to as charcoal canker. The symptoms of infection are visible on the host tree’s bark as elongated, blackish bark lesions on the trunk and branches. Recent years have shown that, due to climate change causing local epidemics, the species is increasing its economic impact in Mediterranean regions. Until recently, B. nummularia was considered rare and uncommon in central Europe. However, in the last few years it has been noticed more often, mostly in coniferous trees, which are out of B. nummularia’s host range. A similar situation has been observed with the closely related species Biscogniauxia mediterranea (De Not.) Kuntze, which prior to 2017 had not been observed in central Europe at all. This study shows the genetic diversity of mid-European strains of Biscogniauxia spp. (based on the ITS, TEF1, TUB2 and ACT regions) and, as the first in Europe, presents a molecular investigation of this species isolated from coniferous trees. It is also the first attempt at estimating the potential impact of this pathogenic fungus on European forestry management in the close future.
Highlights
Biscogniauxia nummularia (Bull.) Kuntze is an ascomycetous fungus belonging to the family Xylariaceaes, that induces strip-cankers on beech, commonly called charcoal canker or beech tarcrust (BTC) disease [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Since the first confirmation of the pathogenicity of B. nummularia, subsequent reports indicate that the problem of beech dieback caused by the mass outbreak of charcoal canker is moving to northern Europe: the problem was observed in 2003 in Hungary [16], in 2014 in northern
This article is the first notification of an increasing number of Biscogniauxia nummularia and Biscogniauxia mediterranea observations in central Europe and their consequences
Summary
Biscogniauxia nummularia (Bull.) Kuntze (synonym: Hypoxylon nummularium Bull.) is an ascomycetous fungus belonging to the family Xylariaceaes, that induces strip-cankers on beech, commonly called charcoal canker or beech tarcrust (BTC) disease [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Observations made in the declining Sicilian and Calabrian beech forests (southern Italy) showed a significant presence of B. nummularia, but did not name it as a direct cause of tree decline [12]. Studies have proven its endophytic nature, which allows the fungus to quickly switch strategies from harmless endophyte to primary pathogen [13], which is a well-known phenomenon in the Xylariales group of fungi [13,14,15]. Since the first confirmation of the pathogenicity of B. nummularia, subsequent reports indicate that the problem of beech dieback caused by the mass outbreak of charcoal canker is moving to northern Europe: the problem was observed in 2003 in Hungary [16], in 2014 in northern
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