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Identification and pathogenicity of Alternaria alternata causing leaf spot disease on sweet cherry in Province of Turkey

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Abstract

Sweet cherry leaf spot, caused by Alternaria spp., causes significant yield losses to sweet cherry production globally. This study was aimed at morphological and molecular identification of the causal agent, Alternaria spp., of leaf spot disease on sweet cherry in the Usak province, Turkey. Isolates were also tested for pathogenicity. In April–June in 2018 and 2019, the sampling was conducted in a total of 84.4 hectares in 70 orchards that were selected to represent the province of Uşak where the highest sweet cherry farming takes place. In the first year, the incidence of Alternaria spp. was highest in the Central district (31.8%) while in the second year high incidences were found in Central (50%), Esme (33.3%) and Banaz (26.9%) districts. The isolated Alternaria spp. was identified based on morphological and microscopic characteristics. Pathogenicity tests were conducted for all isolates based on Koch’s postulates and were made on cultivar Ziraat 0900 of sweet cherry in the climate chamber conditions. The phylogenetic analysis using sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA (ITS rRNA), translation elongation factor (TEF) and RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2) genes showed that our isolates clustered in the same branch with reference isolates of A. alternata. This study is the first report of A. alternata causing of leaf spot disease of sweet cherry in Turkey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Education Institute, Agricultural Sciences, Uşak University, Uşak, Turkey

    Altınay Şimşek

  2. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Uşak University, Uşak, Turkey

    Havva Dinler

  3. General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies, Ankara, Turkey

    Ayse Uysal Morca

Authors
  1. Altınay Şimşek
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  2. Havva Dinler
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  3. Ayse Uysal Morca
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Contributions

This work is a part of AŞ’s MSc study. HD contributed to conception and design, and AŞ and HD collected the samples and surveyed from orchard and performed laboratory work. AUM performed molecular analysis. HD and AUM analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Havva Dinler.

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Şimşek, A., Dinler, H. & Uysal Morca, A. Identification and pathogenicity of Alternaria alternata causing leaf spot disease on sweet cherry in Province of Turkey. J Plant Dis Prot 129, 1355–1366 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-022-00648-x

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