Epidemiology and Etiology of Colletotrichum Species Causing Strawberry Diseases

Abstract

Diseases caused by Colletotrichum spp. are one of the most important limitations on international strawberry production, affecting all vegetative and fruiting parts of the plant. From 1995 to 1997, C. acutatum infections reached epidemic levels in Israeli strawberry nurseries, causing extensive loss of transplants in fruit-bearing fields and additional reductions in yield. Although C. acutatum also occurs on strawberry in Florida, recent crown rot epidemics have been primarily caused by C. gloeosporioides. Little is known about the basic epidemiology of these important diseases on strawberry. The source of initial inoculum for epidemics in Israel, Florida (other US states including California) and the rest of the world is not well understood. Subspecies relationships between Colletotrichum isolates that cause the different diseases on strawberry (i.e. attack different tissues) are also not well understood. Objectives of this proposal were to detennine the potential of infested soil, strawberry debris and other hosts as sources of primary inoculum for strawberry diseases caused by Colletotrichum spp. in Israel and Florida. In addition, traditional (ie. morphological characteristics, benomyl sensitivity, vegetative compatibility grouping) and DNA based methods were used to investigate the etiology of these diseases in order to resolve epidemiologically important subspecies variation. In Israel it was found that C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum infecting strawberry could remain viable in sterilized soil for up to one year and in methyl-bromide fumigated soil for up to 4 months; inoculum in mummified fruit remained viable for at least 5 months under field conditions whereas that in infected crowns was not recovered. Therefore, the contribution of these inocula to disease epidemics should be considered. The host range and specificity of C. acutatum from strawberry was examined on pepper, eggplant, tomato, bean and strawberry under greenhouse conditions. The fungus was recovered from all plant species over a three-month period but caused disease symptoms only on strawberry. C. acutatum was also isolated from healthy looking, asymptomatic plants of the weed species, Vicia and Conyza, growing in infected strawberry fruiting fields. Isolates of C. acutatum originating from strawberry and anemone infected both plant species in artificial inoculations. The habitation of a large number of plant species including weeds by C. acutatum suggests that although it causes disease only on strawberry and anemone in Israel, these plants may serve as a potential inoculum source for strawberry infection and pennit survival of the pathogen between seasons. In Florida, isolates of Colletotrichum spp. from diseased strawberry fruit and crowns were evaluated to detennine their etiology and the genetic diversity of the pathogens. Only C. acutatum was recovered from fruit and C. gloeosporioides were the main species recovered from crowns. These isolates were evaluated at 40 putative genetic loci using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Genetic analysis of RAPD markers revealed that the level of linkage disequilibrium among polymorphic loci in C. gloeosporioides suggested that they were a sexually reproducing population. Under field conditions in Florida, it was detennined that C. gloeosporioides in buried crowns survived