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Phytophthora species distribution in South African citrus production regions

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Abstract

Several Phytophthora spp. are known to cause a range of symptoms on citrus, resulting in significant crop losses worldwide. In South Africa, Phytophthora remains a destructive citrus disease, but the species and their distribution have not been well documented. A total of 162 Phytophthora isolates was collected from 60 citrus orchards in seven provinces of South Africa (Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape). Isolates were identified to the species level through PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analyses of the internal transcribed spacer region. The identity of a subset of the isolates was confirmed using morphological and sequence analyses. Phytophthora nicotianae was the predominant species (76 % of isolates) and occurred in 80 % of the orchards in all of the provinces, followed by P. citrophthora (22 % of isolates in 28 % of orchards). The P. citrophthora isolates were further subdivided into two previously identified subgroups, G1 and G2, with most (69 %) of the isolates belonging to the G1 subgroup. Other Phytophthora species included P. multivora in the Western Cape Province, and an unknown species in the Eastern Cape Province with high sequence similarity (98 %) to a putative new species submitted to GenBank as Phytophthora taxon Sisuluriver. Phytophthora palmivora, a known citrus pathogen, was not identified. Most of the P. nicotianae isolates (79 %) were of the A1 mating type. The P. citrophthora isolates were mostly sterile (64 %), including most of the G1 isolates (81 %). The remaining G1 isolates (19 %) belonged to the A1 mating type, whereas almost all G2 isolates belonged to the A2 mating type except for one isolate that was sterile.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Citrus Research International for funding the project and Mike Coffey (Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA) for providing the mating type reference isolates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa

    J. C. Meitz-Hopkins, C. F. J. Spies, S. D. Langenhoven & A. McLeod

  2. Citrus Research International, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, 1200, South Africa

    M. C. Pretorius & L. Huisman

  3. Agricultural Research Council–Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute, Private Bag X 293, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

    W. J. Botha

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  1. J. C. Meitz-Hopkins
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Meitz-Hopkins, J.C., Pretorius, M.C., Spies, C.F.J. et al. Phytophthora species distribution in South African citrus production regions. Eur J Plant Pathol 138, 733–749 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-013-0346-9

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