Abstract
AbstractThe fungus Sydowia polyspora is frequently isolated from conifers worldwide and is considered a pathogen on several hosts. Stone pine (Pinus pinea) is one of the most important forestry species throughout the Mediterranean basin due to the value of the edible pine nut. Stone pines showing tip dieback, needles with tan‐ to yellow‐coloured lesions and shoot death, observed in stands in Portugal, were sampled for analysis. Fungal colonies covered with cream‐coloured spore masses, were consistently obtained. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses of the ITS rDNA region enabled identification of these isolates as S. polyspora. Inoculation tests showed that the fungus caused lesions on excised P. pinea shoots. The symptoms observed might have a negative effect on pine nut production, and thus, evaluation of the impact of this disease is of relevance to future research. This paper is the first to report S. polyspora causing disease on P. pinea.
Highlights
Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) is amongst the most important forestry species in Portugal and throughout the Mediterranean basin
Colonies covered with cream-coloured spore masses were consistently obtained from P. pinea diseased shoots (Figure 1)
Colonies reached 40–80 mm diameter after 10 days at 25°C in dark, with white margins, later becoming brown, presenting non septate, ellipsoid, hyaline and multiguttulate spores (ẋ ± S.D. =6.79 ± 1.31 × 3.68 ± 0.72 μm [n = 180]). These morphological characteristics were consistent with those reported for S. polyspora (Talgø et al, 2010)
Summary
Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) is amongst the most important forestry species in Portugal and throughout the Mediterranean basin. Pinus pinea has an important economic role in regions where it is planted, due to valuable edible pine nut. Pinus pinea is broadly considered a robust species, but in recent years, pine nut production has decreased, due to several factors including pests and diseases (Mutke et al, 2017). & Melin) is frequently associated with current season needle necrosis (CSNN) on conifer species, Abies spp. and Pinus sp., across Europe and North America (Talgø et al, 2010; Tinivella, Dani, Minuto, & Minuto, 2014). Entire needles may become necrotic and abscise (Talgø et al, 2010)
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