Abstract
The white-thread blight and black rot (WTBR) caused by basidiomycetous fungi of the genus Ceratobasidium is emerging as an important plant disease in Brazil, particularly for crop species in the Ericales such as persimmon (Diospyros kaki) and tea (Camellia sinensis). However, the species identity of the fungal pathogen associated with either of these hosts is still unclear. In this work, we used sequence variation in the internal transcribed spacer regions, including the 5.8S coding region of rDNA (ITS-5.8S rDNA), to determine the phylogenetic placement of the local white-thread-blight-associated populations of Ceratobasidium sp. from persimmon and tea, in relation to Ceratobasidium species already described world-wide. The two sister populations of Ceratobasidium sp. from persimmon and tea in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest agroecosystem most likely represent distinct species within Ceratobasidium and are also distinct from C. noxium, the etiological agent of the first description of white-thread blight disease that was reported on coffee in India. The intraspecific variation for the two Ceratobasidium sp. populations was also analyzed using three mitochondrial genes (ATP6, nad1 and nad2). As reported for other fungi, variation in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA was incongruent. Despite distinct variability in the ITS-rDNA region these two populations shared similar mitochondrial DNA haplotypes.
Highlights
The white-thread blight and black rot (WTBR) associated with fungal pathogens from the Ceratobasidium species complex is considered an emerging plant disease for Brazilian crop species in the Ericales, especially persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) and tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze] (Furtado, 1997; Cavalcante and Sales, 2001)
Thirty-nine distinct haplotypes were identified among the global database of ITS-5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences from Ceratobasidium spp., which included those originating from persimmon, tea, mango, soursop, the CBS type strain of C. noxium (CBS 154-35) from coffee in India and others derived from several Ceratobasidium species and retrieved from GenBank, such as: C. albasitensis (H15), C. raminicola (H17), C. cereale (H04, H06 to H12), C. cornigerum (H03, H20 to H25), C. bicorne (H13), C. angustisporum (H16), C. anceps (H05) and C. papilatum (H14)
In addition to assessing the global phylogenetic position of our samples relative to the other species of Ceratobasidium described worldwide, we examined whether the population of white-thread-blight Ceratobasidium sp. from persimmon was similar to the
Summary
The white-thread blight and black rot (WTBR) associated with fungal pathogens from the Ceratobasidium species complex is considered an emerging plant disease for Brazilian crop species in the Ericales, especially persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) and tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze] (Furtado, 1997; Cavalcante and Sales, 2001). The first description of the WTBR pathogen was reported by Cooke in 1876, based on material collected from infected coffee plants in India (Tims et al, 1954). In 1910, Von Hoehnel re-described the pathogen naming the fungus as Corticium koleroga (Cooke) von Höhnel 1910 (Tims et al, 1954). In addition to Corticium koleroga, synonymy of P. koleroga has included Botryobasidium koleroga (Cooke) Venkatarayan, Hyphocnus koleroga Stevens & Hall, Koleroga noxia Donk and Ceratobasidium noxium (Donk) P. Roberts (Venkatarayan, 1949; CAB-International, 2004)
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