Fungal Pathogen Colletotrichum Research Articles

STAYGREEN (CsSGR) is a candidate for the anthracnose (Colletotrichum orbiculare) resistance locus cla in Gy14 cucumber.

Map-based cloning identified a candidate gene for resistance to the anthracnose fungal pathogen Colletotrichum orbiculare in cucumber, which reveals a novel function for the highly conserved STAYGREEN family genes for host disease resistance in plants. Colletotrichum orbiculare is a hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen that causes anthracnose disease in cucumber and other cucurbit crops. No host resistance genes against the anthracnose pathogens have been cloned in crop plants. Here, we reported fine mapping and cloning of a resistance gene to the race 1 anthracnose pathogen in cucumber inbred lines Gy14 and WI 2757. Phenotypic and QTL analysis in multiple populations revealed that a single recessive gene, cla, was underlying anthracnose resistance in both lines, but WI2757 carried an additional minor-effect QTL. Fine mapping using 150 Gy14 × 9930 recombinant inbred lines and 1043 F2 individuals delimited the cla locus into a 32kb region in cucumber Chromosome 5 with three predicted genes. Multiple lines of evidence suggested that the cucumber STAYGREEN (CsSGR) gene is a candidate for the anthracnose resistance locus. A single nucleotide mutation in the third exon of CsSGR resulted in the substitution of Glutamine in 9930 to Arginine in Gy14 in CsSGR protein which seems responsible for the differential anthracnose inoculation responses between Gy14 and 9930. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that CsSGR was significantly upregulated upon anthracnose pathogen inoculation in the susceptible 9930, while its expression was much lower in the resistant Gy14. Investigation of allelic diversities in natural cucumber populations revealed that the resistance allele in almost all improved cultivars or breeding lines of the U.S. origin was derived from PI 197087. This work reveals an unknown function for the highly conserved STAYGREEN (SGR) family genes for host disease resistance in plants.

The long path to understanding the host–pathogen interactions of Colletotrichum lentis on lentil

Among lentil diseases reported from around the world, anthracnose caused by the fungal ascomycete pathogen Colletotrichum lentis is either not mentioned, or listed as a minor disease. In Canada, it was originally found in Manitoba in 1987, where most lentil was grown at the time, and within 3 years was also detected in Saskatchewan as lentil production moved westwards. Since then, anthracnose has become the most important foliar disease on lentil in western Canada. Originally described as C. truncatum, isolates from lentil were designated their own species in the ‘destructivum’ clade in 2014. Two sexual incompatibility groups have been identified in the Canadian population, but both harbour MAT1-2 while lacking MAT1-1, so sexual mating does not follow the classical ascomycete system of heterothallic species. Field data indicate that the pathogen primarily reproduces asexually, but readily mates in the laboratory, so it may have facultative sexuality. The pathogen has a hemibiotrophic lifestyle with a brief biotrophic phase followed by necrotrophy. Two pathogenic races have been described and partial resistance to the less virulent race 1 was found in cultivated lentil species. High levels of resistance to the virulent race 0 have only been identified in the related species Lens ervoides, and was introgressed into cultivated lentil. Using an ascospore-derived population developed from a cross between race 1 and race 0 isolates, one QTL for virulence was identified on one of the 12 chromosomes of C. lentis.

Homeobox transcription factor CoHox3 is essential for appressorium formation in the plant pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum orbiculare

The plant pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum orbiculare, which is the causal agent of cucumber anthracnose disease, forms dome-shaped, melanized appressoria as a host invasion structure. We found 10 conserved homeobox transcription factors based on genome analysis. In this study, we functionally analyzed one of the C. orbiculare homeobox gene named CoHox3 (Colletotrichum orbiculare Homeobox transcription factor 3) during the infection process. CoHox3 knockout mutants were non-pathogenic on host leaves (inoculated with 1.0 × 104 conidia/mL). Conidia of CoHox3 mutants germinated and/or formed lightly pigmented structures, but did not form mature appressoria on glass slides, artificial membranes, or host leaves. Only 0.3–0.6% of germinated conidia of CoHox3 mutants formed infection hyphae on host leaves. Green fluorescent protein-based expression experiments showed that germinated conidia of the CoHox3 mutant did not express CoGAS1 gene, an appressorium-specific gene, although wild-type strain 104-T expressed the CoGAS1 gene during appressorium formation. When conidia of the CoHox3 mutant was incubated on glass slides, nuclear division was significantly later than that of wild-type, which formed appressorium. Thus, homeobox transcription factor CoHox3 is required to form normal appressoria.

Evaluation of antifungal metabolites activity from bacillus licheniformis OE-04 against Colletotrichum gossypii

Anthracnose disease in the cotton plant caused by fungal pathogen Colletotrichum gossypii. It is supposed to be most critical diseases in the cotton crop as it causes infection and leads to complete damaging of the cotton crop by infecting the leaves, stems, and bolls in the field. The disease control is challenging due to the absence of an effective fungicide without damaging the farmer health and environment. So the series of experiments were designed to assess the antagonistic activity of biosurfactant released by strain Bacillus licheniformis OE-04 against the anthracnose causing agent in cotton and this strain was screened out from forty eight strain of rhizobacteria. We also estimated the heat stability and pH range and toxicity of biosurfactant produced by strain 0E-04. The results showed that biosurfactant has maximum antifungal activity against C. gossypii. In vitro study concluded that the biosurfactant can reduce fungal activity by inhibiting the spore germination of C. gossypii. Moreover, the biosurfactant also has wide pH and temperature range. We observed Antifungal activity of biosurfactant at 5 to 10 pH range and temperature range was also wide from room temperature to 100 °C. We also observed the toxicity of biosurfactant produced by Bacillus licheniformis against zebra fish (Danio rerio). We were noticed that biosurfactant have least harmful effect with maximum concentration. The study confirmed that biosurfactant of Bacillus licheniformis have high pH and heat stability range with least harmful effects so it can be a good replacement of chemical pesticides for cotton anthracnose control.

The Arabidopsis ELP3/ELO3 and ELP4/ELO1 genes enhance disease resistance in Fragaria vesca L.

BackgroundPlant immune response is associated with a large-scale transcriptional reprogramming, which is regulated by numerous transcription regulators such as the Elongator complex. Elongator is a multitasking protein complex involved in diverse cellular processes, including histone modification, DNA methylation, and tRNA modification. In recent years, Elongator is emerging as a key regulator of plant immune responses. However, characterization of Elongator’s function in plant immunity has been conducted only in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. It is thus unclear whether Elongator’s role in plant immunity is conserved in higher plants. The objective of this study is to characterize transgenic woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) overexpressing the Arabidopsis Elongator (AtELP) genes, AtELP3 and AtELP4, and to determine whether F. vesca carries a functional Elongator complex.MethodsTransgenic F. vesca and Arabidopsis plants were produced via Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation and characterized by morphology, PCR, real-time quantitative PCR, and disease resistance test. The Student’s t test was used to analyze the data.ResultsOverexpression of AtELP3 and AtELP4 in F. vesca impacts plant growth and development and confers enhanced resistance to anthracnose crown rot, powdery mildew, and angular leaf spot, which are caused by the hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, the obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen Podosphaera aphanis, and the hemibiotrophic bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas fragariae, respectively. Moreover, the F. vesca genome encodes all six Elongator subunits by single-copy genes with the exception of FvELP4, which is encoded by two homologous genes, FvELP4–1 and FvELP4–2. We show that FvELP4–1 complemented the Arabidopsis Atelp4/elo1–1 mutant, indicating that FvELP4 is biologically functional.ConclusionsThis is the first report on overexpression of Elongator genes in plants. Our results indicate that the function of Elongator in plant immunity is most likely conserved in F. vesca and suggest that Elongator genes may hold potential for helping mitigate disease severity and reduce the use of fungicides in strawberry industry.

QTL mapping to anthracnose leaf blight resistance in tropical maize

The objectives were to map genomic regions associated with quantitative trait loci (QTL) to anthracnose leaf blight (ALB) in tropical maize, and to determine the effects of the loci on resistance to the pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum graminicola (Ces.). QTL analysis to ALB was carried out in a population of F2:3 progenies resulting from the cross between the contrasting lines LR 04-2 and LS 95-1. Seventeen QTL were located by mapping analysis by composite interval on eight chromosomes. Four QTL mapped on chromosomes 9 (1 QTL) and 10 (3 QTL) were the most stable, detected in at least two experiments, and represented the most part of the phenotypic variation (27.7 to 54.3%) of resistance. The majority of QTL mapped were associated to specific severity evaluations/development stage of maize growth, and may explain the quantitative inheritance of resistance of tropical maize to ALB.

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] breeding for resistance to leaf and stalk anthracnose, Colletotrichum sublineolum, and improved yield: Progress and prospects

Sorghum is one of the main staple food crops for millions of subsistence farmers in Africa. Biotic and abiotic challenges are the major production constraints of the crop. Amongst the sorghum biotic constraints, anthracnose is the major devastating disease causing up to 80% of yield reduction. The productivity and profitability of sorghum is limited by several biotic constraints, most notably anthracnose caused by the aggressive fungal pathogen Colletotrichum sublineolum. The most effective and environmentally responsible strategy to control anthracnose is through the incorporation of resistance genes. However, although several sources have been identified, the lack of information with regard to its genetic control of resistance has limited their adequate use in breeding programs. Additionally, the limitations of breeding regarding the leaf and stalk anthracnose resistance and also the need for evaluating materials for resistance and yield in different environments is of major importance. There is limited information about the combining ability, gene action and genetic effects and relationships between anthracnose resistance and grain yield which is required in devising appropriate strategies for developing resistant and high yielding sorghum varieties. This review provides theoretical basis of the progress and challenges for breeding sorghum for anthracnose resistance and improved yield.

Identification and Antifungal Activity of Compounds from the Mangrove Endophytic Fungus Aspergillus clavatus R7.

Two new coumarin derivatives, 4,4′-dimethoxy-5,5′-dimethyl-7,7′-oxydicoumarin (1), 7-(γ,γ-dimethylallyloxy)-5-methoxy-4-methylcoumarin (2), a new chromone derivative, (S)-5-hydroxy-2,6-dimethyl-4H-furo[3,4-g]benzopyran-4,8(6H)-dione (5), and a new sterone derivative, 24-hydroxylergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (6), along with two known bicoumarins, kotanin (3) and orlandin (4), were isolated from an endophytic fungus Aspergillus clavatus (collection No. R7), isolated from the root of Myoporum bontioides collected from Leizhou Peninsula, China. Their structures were elucidated using 1D- and 2D- NMR spectroscopy, and HRESIMS. The absolute configuration of compound 5 was determined by comparison of the experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compound 6 significantly inhibited the plant pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum, Colletotrichum musae and Penicillium italicum, compound 5 significantly inhibited Colletotrichum musae, and compounds 1, 3 and 4 greatly inhibited Fusarium oxysporum, showing the antifungal activities higher than those of the positive control, triadimefon.

Antifungal activities and active ingredients of Melodinus suaveolens Champ. ex Benth.

Four Melodinus species with antifungal activity were found in survey of the floral resources, in Shiwan Mountain Natural Reserve, Guangxi Province, China. Crude methanolic extracts of the twigs and leaves of Melodinus suaveolens exhibited potent antifungal activities against the plant pathogenic fungi Colletotrichum musae, Colletotrichum graminicola, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Alternaria musae, and the ethyl acetate fraction inhibited these pathogens at rates of 85.37, 91.47, 72.77 and 89.87%, respectively (5 mg/mL). A new compound, (2R, 3S, 5S, 6R)-1-O-methyl- chiro-inositol was isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction, along with 15 known compounds. The antifungal activities of compounds (1–16) were evaluated for the first time. Compound (4) had potent antifungal activity against C. gloeosporioides, C. graminicola and A. musae.

Steroids from an Endophytic Eurotium rubrum Strain

A new steroid, 3β,5α-dihydroxy-10α-methyl-6β-acetoxy-ergosta-7,22-diene (1), and ten known steroids (2–11), were isolated from the cultures of Eurotium rubrum, an endophytic fungus isolated from the marine green alga Codium fragile. Structures of these compounds were unambiguously established by spectroscopic techniques and by comparison with literature values. These steroids exhibited low activity to inhibit acetylcholinesterase and no activity against plant pathogenic fungi Colletotrichum lagenarium and Fusarium oxysporium.

Novel approaches for application of biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa for biocontrol of Colletotrichum capsici responsible for anthracnose disease in chilli

Anthracnose disease caused by fungal pathogen Colletotrichum capsici is considered to be one of the most destructive diseases in chilli cultivation as it infects and leads to complete destruction of the crop by infecting the mature fruit in the field and/or during the storage period. The management of the disease is difficult due to the absence of any resistant cultivar and effective fungicide. The current study was initiated to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of the biosurfactant produced by strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa JS29 for biological control of anthracnose disease. The results revealed significant disease reduction using biosurfactant in plant assay which were challenge-inoculated with the fungal spore. In vitro experiments clearly showed that the biosurfactant can effectively inhibit the growth of both spore and mycelia of the pathogen. Moreover, the biosurfactant can also effectively inhibit the fungal growth in detached-fruit assay in different storage conditions. The study confirmed that the biosurfactant has tremendous potential to become a viable, cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative for managing anthracnose disease in field and in post-harvest storage condition.

Antifungal Activities of Dimeric Sesquiterpenes, Shizukaols C and F, Isolated from Chloranthus japonicus Sieb.

Two dimeric sesquiterpenes were separated from Chloranthus japonicus Sieb. and identified as shizukaols C and F. They exhibited potent antifungal activities (MICs = 4-16 μg/ml) in vitro against various plant pathogenic fungi (Pythium ultimum, Phytophthora infestans, Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum lagenarium, Alternaria kikuchiana, and Magnaporthe grisea). Shizukaol C showed 88% and 91% protective activities in the greenhouse against Puccinia recondita (wheat leaf rust) and Phytophthora infestans (tomato late blight), respectively, at 100 μg/ml; shizukaol F exhibited 93% antifungal activity against Puccinia recondita at the same concentration. Therefore, these compounds might serve as interesting candidates for effective antifungal agents.

Influence of inoculum density, temperature, wetness duration, and leaf age on infection and development of spinach anthracnose caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum spinaciae

Spinach anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spinaciae is a newly emergent disease that causes serious losses in the spinach fields of the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. The most popular spinach cv. Matador is very susceptible to the anthracnose. Currently, anthracnose disease is not effectively controlled in Turkey due to the lack of understanding of its epidemiology. In order to understand the effect of environmental parameters on anthracnose, the influences of inoculum concentration, temperature, leaf wetness duration, plant and leaf age on lesion development of spinach anthracnose was studied under controlled conditions. Seedlings of spinach cv. Matador at 4-leaf stage were inoculated with four inoculum concentrations, 102, 104, 106, 2 × 106 conidia/ml, and subjected to seven temperatures of 15, 18, 22, 25, 28, 30, and 33 °C, and nine leaf wetness durations of 3, 5, 10, 20, 24, 30, 44, 48, and 53 h. The mean number of lesions per plant increased at the rate of 50.7% with increasing inoculum density from 104 to 106 conidia per millilitre. Inoculum concentration with 106 conidia per ml of C. spinaciae was appropriate for infection and lesion development. Disease was observed at all temperatures and increased with wetness duration. The development of lesions per plant was observed more gradually when incubation temperature increased from 15 °C to 22 °C. The mean lesion number of anthracnose increased on spinach seedlings as wetness duration increased to 24 h and temperatures to 22 °C and 25 °C. Regression analysis revealed that there was a linear relationship between the increase in number of lesions per plant and wetness duration at 18, 25, and 30 °C. Optimum disease development was recorded at 22 °C with 24 h leaf wetness period. The highest number of lesions was observed at 45 d-old plants. In the same time, older leaves were more severely infected than younger leaves. This kind of information can be used to target key stages of an epidemic and may allow tailoring of spray programs or disease forecasts to cultivar with different levels of anthracnose resistance.

Analyses of natural variation indicates that the absence of RPS4/RRS1 and amino acid change in RPS4 cause loss of their functions and resistance to pathogens

ABSTRACTA pair of Arabidopsis thaliana resistance proteins, RPS4 and RRS1, recognizes the cognate Avr effector from the bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato expressing avrRps4 (Pst-avrRps4), Ralstonia solanacearum, and the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum and leads to defense signaling activation against the pathogens. In the present study, we analyzed 14 A. thaliana accessions for natural variation in Pst-avrRps4 and C. higginsianum susceptibility, and found new compatible and incompatible Arabidopsis–pathogen interactions. We first found that A. thaliana accession Cvi-0 is susceptible to Pst-avrRps4. Interestingly, the genome sequence assembly indicated that Cvi-0 lost both RPS4 and RRS1, but not RPS4B and RRS1B, compared to the reference genome sequence from A. thaliana accession Col-0. On the other hand, the natural variation analysis of RPS4 alleles from various Arabidopsis accessions revealed that one amino-acid change, Y950H, is responsible for the loss of resistance to Pst-avrRps4 and C. higginsianum in RLD-0. Our data indicate that the amino acid change, Y950H, in RPS4 resulted in the loss of both RPS4 and RRS1 functions and resistance to pathogens.

ChMob2 binds to ChCbk1 and promotes virulence and conidiation of the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum

BackgroundMob family proteins are conserved between animals, plants and fungi and are essential for the activation of NDR kinases that control crucial cellular processes like cytokinesis, proliferation and morphology.ResultsWe identified a hypomorphic allele of ChMOB2 in a random insertional mutant (vir-88) of the hemibiotrophic ascomycete fungus Colletotrichum higginsianum. The mutant is impaired in conidiation, host penetration and virulence on Arabidopsis thaliana. ChMob2 binds to and co-localizes with the NDR/LATS kinase homolog ChCbk1. Mutants in the two potential ChCbk1 downstream targets ChSSD1 and ChACE2 show defects in pathogenicity. The genome of C. higginsianum encodes two more Mob proteins. While we could not detect any effect on pathogenicity in ΔChmob3 mutants, ChMob1 is involved in conidiation, septae formation and virulence.ConclusionThis study shows that ChMob2 binds to the conserved NDR/LATS Kinase ChCbk1 and plays an important role in pathogenicity of Colletotrichum higginsianum on Arabidopsis thaliana.

Cell wall composition and penetration resistance against the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum are affected by impaired starch turnover in Arabidopsis mutants.

Penetration resistance represents the first level of plant defense against phytopathogenic fungi. Here, we report that the starch-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana phosphoglucomutase (pgm) mutant has impaired penetration resistance against the hemibiotrophic fungus Colletotrichum higginsianum. We could not determine any changes in leaf cutin and epicuticular wax composition or indolic glucosinolate levels, but detected complex alterations in the cell wall monosaccharide composition of pgm. Notably, other mutants deficient in starch biosynthesis (adg1) or mobilization (sex1) had similarly affected cell wall composition and penetration resistance. Glycome profiling analysis showed that both overall cell wall polysaccharide extractability and relative extractability of specific pectin and xylan epitopes were affected in pgm, suggesting extensive structural changes in pgm cell walls. Screening of mutants with alterations in content or modification of specific cell wall monosaccharides indicated an important function of pectic polymers for penetration resistance and hyphal growth of C. higginsianum during the biotrophic interaction phase. While mutants with affected pectic rhamnogalacturonan-I (mur8) were hypersusceptible, penetration frequency and morphology of fungal hyphae were impaired on pmr5 pmr6 mutants with increased pectin levels. Our results reveal a strong impact of starch metabolism on cell wall composition and suggest a link between carbohydrate availability, cell wall pectin and penetration resistance.

Antimicrobial, herbicidal and antifeedant activities of mansonone E from the heartwoods of Mansonia gagei Drumm.

In vitro biological activities including anti-phytopathogenic fungi, antibacterial, antifeedant and herbicidal activities of the extracts from the heartwoods of Mansonia gagei Drumm. were evaluated. The dichloromethane (DCM) extract displayed antifungal activity against four plant pathogenic fungi (Alternaria porri, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum and Phytophthora parasitica) higher than the methanolic (MeOH) extract. The separation of the DCM extract using bioassay guided antifungal activity against P. parasitica led to the isolation of mansorins A, B, and C, mansonones C, E, G and H. Among isolated compounds, mansonone E displayed the highest antifungal activity against P. parasitica, followed by mansonone C, mansorin B and mansonone G. This potent compound revealed the same minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 31 μg mL−1 against C. gloeosporioides and P. parasitica, and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 31 and 125 μg mL−1, respectively. Moreover, mansonone E exhibited highly significant antibacterial activity against both Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and X. oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc) with MIC and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) as 7.8 and >500 μg mL−1, respectively. This compound furthermore could inhibit the feed of Spodoptera litura with 45.9% antifeedant and significantly herbicidal activity reduced the shoot and root growth of Brassica chinensis, Oryza sativa, Mimosa pigra and Echinochlooa crus-galli. Mansonone E has potential as a new natural pesticide for agricultural plant pathogen management.

Elucidation of biocontrol mechanisms of Trichoderma harzianum against different plant fungal pathogens: Universal yet host specific response

In the present study, different transcripts of Trichoderma harzianum ThHP-3 were evaluated for their response against four fungal pathogens Fusarium oxysporum, Colletotrichum capsici, Colletotrichum truncatum and Gloesercospora sorghi using RT-qPCR. The time course study of T. harzianum transcripts related to signal transduction, lytic enzymes, secondary metabolites and various transporters revealed variation in expression against four fungal pathogens. In a broader term, the transcripts were upregulated at various time intervals but the optimum expression of cyp3, abc, nrp, tga1, pmk, ech42 and glh20 varied with respect to host fungi. Additionally, the expression of transcripts related to transporters/cytochromes was also observed against Fusarium oxysporum after 96h whereas transcripts related to secondary metabolites and lytic enzymes showed significant difference in expression against Colletotrichum spp. from 72 to 96h. This is first study on transcriptomic response of T. harzianum against pathogenic fungi which shows their host specific response.

Molecular Characterization of a Trisegmented Mycovirus from the Plant Pathogenic Fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides.

A novel double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus, consisting of three dsRNA genome segments and possibly belonging to the family Chrysoviridae, was isolated from the filamentous phytopathogenic fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and designated as Colletotrichum gloeosprioides chrysovirus 1 (CgCV1). The three dsRNAs of the CgCV1 genome with lengths of 3397, 2869, and 2630 bp (dsRNAs1–3) were found to contain a single open reading frame (ORF) putatively encoding the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a capsid protein, and a protease, respectively, all of which exhibited some degree of sequence similarity to the comparable putative proteins encoded by the genus Chrysovirus. The 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions in each dsRNA segment contained similar sequences that were strictly conserved at the termini. Moreover, isometric virus-like particles (VLPs) with a diameter of approximately 40 nm were extracted from fungal mycelia. Phylogenetic analysis based on the conserved dsRNA1-encoded RdRp showed that CgCV1 is a new virus belonging to the Chrysoviridae family. BLAST analysis revealed the presence of CgCV1-like sequences in the chromosomes of Medicago truncatula and Solanum tuberosum. Moreover, some sequences in the transcriptome shotgun assembly (TSA) library and expressed sequence tag database (ESTdb) of other eudicot and monocot plants were also found to be related to CgCV1.

Population Genetic Analyses of the Fungal Pathogen Colletotrichum fructicola on Tea-Oil Trees in China.

The filamentous fungus Colletotrichum fructicola is found in all five continents and is capable of causing severe diseases in a number of economically important plants such as avocado, fig, cocoa, pear, and tea-oil trees. However, almost nothing is known about its patterns of genetic variation and epidemiology on any of its host plant species. Here we analyzed 167 isolates of C. fructicola obtained from the leaves of tea-oil tree Camellia oleifera at 15 plantations in seven Chinese provinces. Multilocus sequence typing was conducted for all isolates based on DNA sequences at fragments of four genes: the internal transcribed spacers of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster (539 bp), calmodulin (633 bp), glutamine synthetase (711 bp), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (190 bp), yielding 3.52%, 0.63%, 8.44%, and 7.89% of single nucleotide polymorphic sites and resulting in 15, 5, 12 and 11 alleles respectively at the four gene fragments in the total sample. The combined allelic information from all four loci identified 53 multilocus genotypes with the most frequent represented by 21 isolates distributed in eight tea-oil plantations in three provinces, consistent with long-distance clonal dispersal. However, despite evidence for clonal dispersal, statistically significant genetic differentiation among geographic populations was detected. In addition, while no evidence of recombination was found within any of the four gene fragments, signatures of recombination were found among the four gene fragments in most geographic populations, consistent with sexual mating of this species in nature. Our study provides the first insights into the population genetics and epidemiology of the important plant fungal pathogen C. fructicola.