Isolates Of Colletotrichum Acutatum Research Articles

529 PB 525 DETERMINING RESISTANCE IN STRAWBERRY TO ANTHRACNOSE USING TOXINS PRODUCED IN FUNGUS CULTURE

We have determined in tests conducted both at Beltsville and Poplarville that several strawberry isolates of Colletotrichum acutatum, C. gloeosporioides and C. fragariae produce toxin-like compounds in culture. Crude culture filtrates (CFI elicited general and specific responses in tomato and strawberry plants. Tomato plants initially were used because they are highly responsive to toxins in general, whereas the reaction of strawberry plants apparently is greatly affected by environmental and nutritional growing conditions of the test plant. Toxin symptoms included leaf chlorosis and wilting, leaf midvein darkening, and plant death when CF was applied to leaves or if seedlings or petioles were immersed into CF. Juvenile tissues appear to be more susceptible to the effects of the toxins than mature tissue. No differences in response to culture filtrates were apparent among those from the Colletotrichum isolates. The putative toxins appear to act differentially with susceptible or resistant strawberry germplasm.

Adaptation of automated microbiology identification system (AMBIS) to determine fungal relationships using DNA polymorphisms

The beta scanner and pattern matching software integrated in the automated microbiology identification system (AMBIS) were used to assess the relatedness of isolates of Colletotrichum acutatum, C. kahawae, C. fragariae, C. gloeosporioides and C. musae based on mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms. The dendrograms generated reflected the intra-specific variation and inter-specific relationships of these species as determined by other previously reported methods. The adaptability of AMBIS as a rapid method for assessing genetic relatedness of fungal species based on DNA polymorphisms is discussed.

Strains of Colletotrichum coffeanum, the causal agent of coffee berry disease, tolerant to benzimidazole compounds in Kenya

SUMMARYThe detection of Colletotrichum coffeanum tolerant to methyl ester of benzimidazole 2‐carbamic acid (carbendazim) and a related benzimidazole compound, cypendazole, followed increases in levels of coffee berry disease observed on Coffea arabica in experimental plots sprayed for 2 yr with these compounds.Sporulation by the pathogen on naturally infected berries removed from carbendazim‐, cypendazole‐ or benomyl‐sprayed plots was not checked by a further application of 0–05 % (a.i.) of any of the compounds. Nearly all the isolates from these berries were capable of some growth on agar media containing 1000 ppm (a.i.) of either carbendazim or cypendazole. However, only a few could tolerate 1000 ppm of benomyl and the inability of this compound to reduce sporulation on berries infected with tolerant strains was presumably due to its rapid conversion to carbendazim within the host tissue.Less than 1 ppm of carbendazim, cypendazole or benomyl was needed to give 50% inhibition of conidia of the normal strain. Against the most tolerant strains, however, the LD 50 was > 100 ppm of carbendazim and about 30 ppm of benomyl.Whether isolated from unsprayed or benzimidazole‐sprayed plots, all isolates of Colletotrichum acutatum, a saprophytic cohabitant of lesions initiated on berries by C. coffeanum, showed the highest degree of tolerance to benzimidazole compounds.No tolerance of either fungus to the ‘conventional’ fungicide captafol was detected.