Diversity and distribution of co-infecting Botryosphaeriaceae from Eucalyptus grandis and Syzygium cordatum in South Africa

K Pillay,B Slippers,M.J Wingfield,M Gryzenhout

doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2012.09.003

K Pillay, B Slippers + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2012.09.003

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Abstract

Species in the fungal family Botryosphaeriaceae are latent pathogens on woody trees. These fungi often have a wide host range, which can include native and introduced hosts in an area. Multi-locus DNA sequence identification on a recent collection of Botryosphaeriaceae from Eucalyptus grandis and Syzygium cordatum trees in South Africa revealed cross-infectivity of several species, novel host associations and new country reports. Neofusicoccum eucalyptorum, Neofusicoccum kwambonambiense, Neofusicoccum parvum, Neofusicoccum australe and Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae were identified from both tree species, with L. pseudotheobromae and N. eucalyptorum isolated for the first time from S. cordatum, similar to N. kwambonambiense from Eucalyptus. This also represents the first report of L. pseudotheobromae from South Africa. Botryosphaeriaceae species on Eucalyptus species and S. cordatum are fairly well known from South Africa. However, this study revealed new associations, indicating that conclusions should not be generalized and that more intensive sampling from different areas and over time is likely to reveal distinct species and host association patterns.

Highlights

The EF-1α dataset comprised of 103 taxa, including 36 reference sequences representing all genera of Botryosphaeriaceae and 67 sequences from this study
Reference sequences of all species belonging to Neofusicoccum and Lasiodiplodia were selected for the combined datasets of the ITS and EF-1α because all the sequences generated in this study grouped into those clades
This study reports a number of species of the tree pathogen and endophyte family, the Botryosphaeriaceae, for the first time from South Africa

Summary

Introduction

Species of the Botryosphaeriaceae associated with Eucalyptus (Myrtales, Myrtaceae) trees in plantations have been well studied and are known to occur as endophytes and, in some cases, opportunistic latent pathogens (Burgess et al, 2005; Mohali et al, 2007; Slippers et al, 2004c, 2009; Smith et al, 1994). In Venezuela the dominant Botryosphaeriaceae include Botryosphaeria mamane, Neofusicoccum andium, Neofusicoccum parvum, N. pseudofusicoccum, N. stromaticum, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, L. crassispora and Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae (Mohali et al, 2006, 2007). This is different from species combinations present in western Australia that include Fusicoccum ramsorum, N. parvum, Neofusicoccum australe, N. macroclavatum, P. adansoniae, P. ardesiarum, P. kimberleyense, and L. theobromae (Burgess et al, 2005, 2006a; Pavlic et al, 2008). In South Africa, N. parvum, N. australe, Neofusicoccum eucalyptorum and N. eucalypticola are dominant species (Slippers et al, 2004b, 2004c, 2009)

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