Colletotrichum Spp. Diversity Between Leaf Anthracnose and Crown Rot From the Same Strawberry Plant

Abstract

Leaf anthracnose (LA) and anthracnose crown rot (ACR) represent serious fungal diseases that pose significant threats to strawberry production. To characterize the pathogen diversity associated with above diseases, 100 strawberry plants, including varieties of “Hongjia,” “Zhangji,” and “Tianxianzui,” were sampled from Jiande and Zhoushan, the primary plantation regions of Zhejiang province, China. A total of 309 Colletotrichum isolates were isolated from crown (150 isolates) and leaves (159 isolates) of affected samples. Among these, 100 isolates obtained from the plants showing both LA and CR symptoms were selected randomly for further characterization. Based on the morphological observations combined with phylogenetic analysis of multiple genes (ACT, ITS, CAL, GAPDH, and CHS), all the 100 tested isolates were identified as C. gloeosporioides species complex, including 91 isolates of C. siamense, 8 isolates of C. fructicola causing both LA and ACR, and one isolate of C. aenigma causing ACR. The phenotypic characteristics of these isolated species were investigated using the BIOLOG phenotype MicroArray (PM) and a total of 950 different metabolic phenotype were tested, showing the characteristics among these isolates and providing the theoretical basis for pathogenic biochemistry and metabolism. The pathogenicity tests showed that even the same Colletotrichum species isolated from different diseased tissues (leaves or crowns) had significantly different pathogenicity toward strawberry leaves and crown. C. siamense isolated from diseased leaves (CSLA) was more aggressive than C. siamense isolated from rotted crown (CSCR) during the infection on “Zhangji” leaves. Additionally, C. fructicola isolated from affected leaf (CFLA) caused more severe symptoms on the leaves of four strawberry varieties compared to C. fructicola isolated from diseased crown (CFCR). For crown rot, the pathogenicity of CSCR was higher than that of CSLA.

Colletotrichum truncatum Causing Anthracnose of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Malaysia

“…Generally, Colletotrichum is a genus of diverse plant pathogenic fungi which causes diseases in a wide variety of plant species worldwide, and several Colletotrichum species have the capacity to infect a single host-plant, and a single Colletotrichum species is also capable of infecting several hosts [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. A broad range of host species including avocado, chilli, mango, olive, papaya, strawberry, and watermelon, can be infected by different Colletotrichum species worldwide [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Anthracnoses caused by Colletotrichum spp.…”

Phased gap-free genome assembly of octoploid cultivated strawberry illustrates the genetic and epigenetic divergence among subgenomes

“…Previous studies have shown that the application of salicylic acid-primed defense response in ‘Benihoppe’ leaves can enhance its resistance against Podosphaera aphanis, the causal agent of powdery mildew [ 6 ]. Furthermore, comparative transcriptomic analysis of ‘Benihoppe’ has provided valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance against C. gloeosporioides in octoploid strawberries [ 8 , 11 ]. Despite its weak disease resistance, ‘Benihoppe’ remains an almost ideal strawberry variety.…”

“…However, ‘Benihoppe’ is susceptible to powdery mildew and Colletotrichum Spp. pathogen, making it valuable for studying disease defense responses [ 6 – 8 ]. Researchers have conducted physiological studies on ‘Benihoppe’ to understand its responses to biotic and abiotic stresses [ 9 – 13 ], phenylpropanoid biosynthesis [ 14 – 16 ], and essential agronomic traits [ 17 – 20 ].…”

Development of a LAMP assay for strawberry anthracnose Colletotrichum fructicola

“…Thus, based on multilocus phylogenetic and morphological data, C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides have been defined as species complexes containing 36 and 38 species, respectively (Damm et al 2012;Marin-Felix et al 2017;Weir et al 2012). For example, Chen et al (2020) and Hu et al (2022) identified Colletotrichum spp. through morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis of multiple genes: ACT, ITS, CAL, GAPDH, and CHS.…”