Abstract
Apple bitter rot caused by Colletotrichum acutatum sensu lato results in fruit decay before and after harvest. We investigated the epidemiology of the disease in terms of conidial formation and dispersal as well as the change in susceptibility of fruits in Iwate, Japan. Conidia of C. acutatum were detected in rainwater collected from inside the tree canopy from May to August with peaks in production in mid-May to early June and mid- to late July. The first peak corresponded to the most conidia being produced on fruit scars, but the second peak was due to conidiation on mummified fruitlets and peduncles collected in July. Inoculation experiments revealed that fruits were susceptible to the pathogen between 20 and 90 days after petal fall and that immature fruits infected as early as 20 days after petal fall frequently developed lesions on the lower fruit half as growth progressed. These results suggest that C. acutatum sporulates on infested fruit scars to infect immature fruits, resulting in bitter rot and that the fungus also colonizes mummified fruitlets and peduncles, contributing to survival of the pathogen on fruit scars. Thus, infested fruit scars represent the primary source of inoculum.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Naoyuki Matsumoto for critically reading the manuscript and the staff of the Iwate Plant Protection Office for assessing disease incidence and sampling fruit scars in commercial orchards.
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Nekoduka, S., Tanaka, K. & Sano, T. Epidemiology of apple bitter rot caused by Colletotrichum acutatum sensu lato. J Gen Plant Pathol 84, 262–271 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-018-0789-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-018-0789-0