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Diversity and identification of Neofabraea species causing bull’s eye rot in the Czech Republic

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Abstract

Four Neofabraea species are responsible for bull’s eye rot, which is an important postharvest disease of apples and pears. The species diversity of its causal agents in Europe has not been thoroughly explored using molecular genetic methods. Eighty-one Neofabraea isolates were obtained mostly from apples with bull’s eye rot symptoms in the Czech Republic over a two year period. The isolates were identified using PCR fingerprinting and DNA sequencing of the ITS rDNA region, the mitochondrial SSU rDNA and the β-tubulin and EF1α genes. The most common species was N. alba (89 %), followed by N. perennans (5 %) and N. kienholzii (5 %). This is the third published record of N. kienholzii in Europe. The species identity of the isolate CPPF507, which was placed close to N. kienholzii, remains unclear. EF1α was shown to be a suitable marker for the identification of species of the genus Neofabraea and was comparable to the previously used β-tubulin gene. Furthermore, the aggressiveness of individual species was compared and species distribution across Europe was summarized. N. perennans and isolate CPPF507 proved to be the most aggressive, whereas the least aggressive was N. kienholzii. Two N. alba isolates isolated from symptomless apple fruits and leaves were pathogenic to apples in the infection tests.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. Ibrahim Tahir (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) for providing valuable information. Molecular genetics analyses were supported by the COST LD-COST CZ project LD13039 (COST Action FA1103, Endophytes in Biotechnology and Agriculture) and by project QJ1210104 (Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Fungal Genetics and Metabolism, Institute of Microbiology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, v.v.i., Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Praha 4, Czech Republic

    K. Pešicová & M. Kolařík

  2. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Benátská 2, 128 01, Praha 2, Czech Republic

    K. Pešicová

  3. Crop Research Institute, v.v.i., Drnovská 507/73, 161 06, Praha 6, Czech Republic

    B. Hortová & D. Novotný

Authors
  1. K. Pešicová
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  2. M. Kolařík
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  3. B. Hortová
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  4. D. Novotný
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Correspondence to M. Kolařík.

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PCR fingerprints using primers M13-core and ERIC 1R (PDF 254 kb)

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Pešicová, K., Kolařík, M., Hortová, B. et al. Diversity and identification of Neofabraea species causing bull’s eye rot in the Czech Republic. Eur J Plant Pathol 147, 683–693 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-016-1036-1

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