Characterization of Colletotrichum Species Responsible for Anthracnose Diseases of Various Fruits.

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ilamentous fungi of the genus Colletotrichum and its teleomorph Glomerella are considered major plant pathogens worldwide. They cause significant economic damage to crops in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions. Cereals, legumes, ornamentals, vegetables, and fruit trees may be seriously affected by the pathogen (3). Although many cultivated fruit crops are infected by Colletotrichum species, the most significant economic losses are incurred when the fruiting stage is attacked. Colletotrichum species cause typical disease symptoms known as anthracnose, characterized by sunken necrotic tissue where orange conidial masses are produced. Anthracnose diseases appear in both developing and mature plant tissues (4). Two distinct types of diseases occur: those affecting developing fruit in the field (preharvest) and those damaging mature fruit during storage (postharvest). The ability to cause latent or quiescent infections has grouped Colletotrichum among the most important postharvest pathogens. Species of the pathogen appear predominantly on aboveground plant tissues; however, belowground organs, such as roots and tubers, may also be affected. In this article, we deal in particular with methods used to identify and characterize Colletotrichum species and genotypes from almond, avocado, and strawberry, as examples, using traditional and molecular tools. The three pathosystems chosen represent different disease patterns of fruitassociated Colletotrichum. Multiple Species on a Single Host Numerous cases have been reported in which several Colletotrichum species or biotypes are associated with a single host. For example, avocado and mango anthracnose, caused by both C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides, affect fruit predominantly as postharvest diseases (25,40,41). Strawberry may be infected by three Colletotrichum species, C. fragariae, C. acutatum, and C. gloeosporioides, causing anthracnose of fruit and other plant parts (31). Almond and other deciduous fruits may be infected by C. acutatum or C. gloeosporioides (Table 1) (1,5,46,50). Citrus can be affected by four different Colletotrichum diseases (61): postbloom fruit drop and key lime anthracnose, both caused by C. acutatum, and shoot dieback and leaf spot, and postharvest fruit decay, both caused by C. gloeosporioides. Additional examples of hosts affected by multiple Colletotrichum species include coffee, cucurbits, pepper, and tomato. Single Species on Multiple Hosts It is common to find that a single botanical species of Colletotrichum infects multiple hosts. For example, C. gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. in Penz. (teleomorph: Glomerella cingulata (Stoneman) Spauld. & H. Schrenk), which is considered a cumulative species and forms the sexual stage in some instances, is found on a wide variety of fruits, including almond, avocado, apple, and strawberry (Table 2) (6,15,31,46). Likewise, C. acutatum J.H. Simmonds has been reported to infect a large number of fruit crops, including avocado, strawberry, almond, apple, and peach (1,5,16,25,27). Examples of other species with multiple host ranges include C. coccodes, C. capsici, and C. dematium (14,56).