Abstract
Monitoring surveys of Phytophthora related diseases in four forest nurseries in Italy revealed the occurrence of fourteen Phytophthora species to be associated with collar and root rot on fourteen plants typical of Mediterranean and alpine regions. In addition, a multilocus phylogeny analysis based on nuclear ITS and ß-tubulin and mitochondrial cox1 sequences, as well as micromorphological features, supported the description of a new species belonging to the phylogenetic clade 7c, Phytophthora mediterranea sp. nov. Phytophthora mediterranea was shown to be associated with collar and root rot symptoms on myrtle seedlings. Phylogenetically, P. mediterranea is closely related to P. cinnamomi but the two species differ in 87 nucleotides in the three studied DNA regions. Morphologically P. mediterranea can be easily distinguished from P. cinnamomi on the basis of its smaller sporangia, colony growth pattern and higher optimum and maximum temperature values. Data from the pathogenicity test showed that P. mediterranea has the potential to threaten the native Mediterranean maquis vegetation. Finally, the discovery of P. cinnamomi in alpine nurseries, confirms the progressive expansion of this species towards cold environments, probably driven by climate change.
Highlights
Over the last few years, the horticultural industry has had a progressive expansion worldwide, which resulted in an increase in the trade of plants and commodities among continents [1,2]
In addition to the direct economic losses caused to the horticulture industry, Phytophthora spp. pose a threat to biodiversity of natural ecosystems as they are often introduced through the seedlings used for reforestation and restoration programmes [14,15,16]
The findings obtained in this study highlight the occurrence of multiple Phytophthora species in Italian forest nurseries
Summary
Over the last few years, the horticultural industry has had a progressive expansion worldwide, which resulted in an increase in the trade of plants and commodities among continents [1,2]. In addition to the direct economic losses caused to the horticulture industry, Phytophthora spp. pose a threat to biodiversity of natural ecosystems as they are often introduced through the seedlings used for reforestation and restoration programmes [14,15,16]. In this regard, the P. ramorum and P. lateralis outbreaks in
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