Identification and Pathogenicity of Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Diplodia seriata, the Causal Agents of Bot Canker Disease of Grapevines in Mexico

Abstract

Perennial cankers and consequent grapevine dieback are a major problem in vineyards of Sonora and Baja California, the most important grape-production areas of Mexico. In order to identify the canker-causing agents, symptomatic arms, cordons, and trunks were collected from 13 and 6 vineyards in Sonora and Baja California, respectively. Two Botryosphaeriaceae spp., Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Diplodia seriata, were isolated frequently from infected wood and identified based on morphological and cultural characters as well as analyses of nucleotide sequences of three genes, the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2), a partial sequence of the β-tubulin gene, and part of the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (EF1-α). Although both L. theobromae and D. seriata were isolated from grapevine cankers in Baja California, only L. theobromae was found in vines in the Sonora region. Pathogenicity of both species was verified by inoculation of rooted cuttings and green shoots of Thompson Seedless and Chardonnay cultivars. Isolates of L. theobromae were more virulent, based on the extent of spread in the secondary wood and green tissue, than those of D. seriata. These findings confirm L. theobromae and D. seriata as the causal agents of dieback and canker formation of grapevines in northern Mexico.

Botryosphaeriaceae associated with Terminalia catappa in Cameroon, South Africa and Madagascar

“…The relatively common occurrence of L. theobromae in Cameroon, compared to the other regions sampled in this study, could also reflect a climatic influence. Lasiodiplodia theobromae appears to occur most commonly in consistently warm areas (Taylor et al 2005;Urbez-Torrez et al 2008) and the climatic conditions in the localities where samples were collected in this study apparently support the findings.…”

Use of the Genealogical Sorting Index (GSI) to delineate species boundaries in the Neofusicoccum parvum–Neofusicoccum ribis species complex

“…rainfall, humidity and host stress. Climate is suggested as a limiting factor as different Botryosphaeriaceae species dominate the colonisation of grapevine in Mexico (Úrbez-Torres et al, 2008), Spain (Úrbez-Torres et al, 2006), South Australia and New South Wales (Pitt et al, 2010). Among the genera of Botryosphaeriaceae there does seem to be a general trend of Lasiodiplodia species being adapted to tropical to sub-tropical locations (Abdollahzadeh et al, 2010;Alves et al, 2008;Begoude et al, 2010;Burgess et al, 2006a;Pavlic et al, 2004) and Neofusicoccum species to Mediterranean and temperate locations Crous et al, 2007;Phillips et al, 2002;Slippers et al, 2004bSlippers et al, , 2004cTaylor et al, 2009;van Niekerk et al, 2004).…”

Endophytes as potential pathogens of the baobab species Adansonia gregorii: a focus on the Botryosphaeriaceae

“…Species with a wide host range often also behave as latent pathogens (Slippers et al 2005a;Slippers et al 2005b) and ) with the ability to cause disease symptoms on hosts, as shown in pathogenicity trials (Fraser and Davison 1985;Shearer et al 1987) Smith et al 1994) and as disease records in the field (Barnard et al 1987;Fraser and Davison 1985;Shearer 1994;Úrbez-Torres et al 2008). Some of the Botryosphaeriaceae exhibit a very restricted host range such as D. santalui restricted to S. acuminatum, and D. moneti restricted to A. rostellifera and A. cochlearis (Taylor et al 2009).…”