Coffee berry disease in Kenya. II. The role of Glomerella cingulata in the Colletotrichum population, colonizing the bark of Coffea arabica

Abstract

On the maturing bark of cut branches ofCoffea arabica previously sprayed with copper fungicides perithecia ofGlomerella cingulata were easily found after two to ten days of incubation. Without fungicides the number of perithecia was decidedly lower. On prunings left on the ground under the coffee trees for 6 to 24 weeks the perithecia could also be found, but the numbers declined rapidly with time.

Perithecia ofG. cingulata could forcibly discharge ascospores under laboratory conditions. Monospore cultures obtained by catching ascospores on agar, invariably belonged to threeColletotrichum types. It was rarely possible to isolate aColletotrichum able to infect green coffee berries. Growthrate, colour of the mycelium, number of conidia producedin vitro and infectivity on green coffee berries, however, differed substantially fromC. coffeanum, the cause of coffee berry disease.

In Kenya no evidence has been obtained that ascospores from perithecia on bark could infect wounded or unwounded green coffee berries. Neither has any infection been obtained with ascospores from perithecia grownin vitro. Possible explanations for the difference with previous findings are offered. Based on the data presented in this paper, it is concluded thatG. cingulata is not likely to play a role in the epidemiology of the coffee berry disease in Kenya.