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Identification and characterization of Phytopythium helicoides causing stem rot of Shatangju mandarin seedlings in China

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Abstract

Citrus mandarin (Citrus reticulata) cultivar Shatangju has great economic importance in southern China because of its delicious fruit and medicinal peel. During surveys conducted in 2012 and 2013, stem rot and plant death were observed on 2- to 3-year-old Shatangju grafted seedlings in 21 nurseries located in three regions (Yangjiang City, Sihui City and Deqing County) of Guangdong Province, China. The aims of this study were to characterize the symptoms of seedling stem rot and death; evaluate the incidence and loss; identify the causal agent and evaluate its pathogenicity. The disease was present in all surveyed nurseries but incidence varied with location. A Pythium-like oomycete was consistently obtained from symptomatic plants collected in the nurseries surveyed. On the basis of morphological and cultural characteristics and combined phylogenetic analysis of three DNA sequences including the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), mitochondrial CoxI and CoxII genes, 21 of the isolates obtained were identified as belonging to the species Phytopythium helicoides. The isolates were pathogenic to the scions but not rootstocks of Shatangju mandarin seedlings cultivated in a controlled greenhouse and symptoms identical to that observed in the field were reproduced. The pathogen was re-isolated consistently from the inoculated plants, confirming Koch’s postulates. Seedling stem rot and eventual death caused by P. helicoides represents a serious threat to Shatangju mandarin nursery productivity and longevity in southern China.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Xiao-Bo Zheng (Nanjing Agricultural University, China) for helpful suggestions about the work. This work was supported by grants to Xiao-Ren Chen from Yangzhou University Foundation for Fostering Talents in the Science and Technology Innovation (No. 2015CXJ047), Natural Science Foundation of the Higher Education Institutions of Jiangsu Province (China) (No. 13KJB210009), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31101395) and the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (No. 201303018), and by grants to Bao-Ping Cheng from Science and Technology Major Project of Guangdong Province (China) (No. 2014B020203003) and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (China) (No. 2014A030310198).

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  1. College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Wenhui Eastern Road 48, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009, China

    Xiao-Ren Chen, Bei-Bei Liu, Yu-Ping Xing, Mei-Ling Liu, Yun-Hui Tong & Jing-You Xu

  2. Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China

    Bao-Ping Cheng

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  1. Xiao-Ren Chen
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Chen, XR., Liu, BB., Xing, YP. et al. Identification and characterization of Phytopythium helicoides causing stem rot of Shatangju mandarin seedlings in China. Eur J Plant Pathol 146, 715–727 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-016-0952-4

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