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Characterization of Fusarium nirenbergiae and F. elaeidis causing diseases on Dipladenia and Grevillea plants

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Abstract

During 2019, severe symptoms of crown, basal stem and root rot associated with vascular discoloration were observed on Dipladenia and Grevillea ornamental species in a nursery located in Southern Italy. Fusarium spp. colonies were consistently recovered from infected tissues on semi-selective media. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA, RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) and elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1-α) regions allowed to identify F. nirenbergiae and F. elaeidis as causal agents of infections from Dipladenia Sundaville® and Grevillea gracilis, respectively. The pathogenicity of both fungi was confirmed on young pot-grown cuttings of two ornamental plants, where they reproduced symptoms very similar to those observed in the nursery. Re-isolation of fungi from symptomatic tissues definitively confirmed aetiology of infections. In addition, among tested Dipladenia cultivars, “Classic Red” showed the significant highest percentage of disease incidence (almost 40% of plants) one month post inoculation. Similarly, disease occurrence recorded on young cuttings G. gracilis reached the maximum level 20 days after inoculation, interesting 100% of plants. This study reports the occurrence of Fusarium nirenbergiae and F. elaeidis causing diseases on Dipladenia and Grevillea plants.

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Funding

Authors wish to acknowledge the grants which supported this work: Programma Ricerca di Ateneo UNICT 2020–2022 linea 2 - University of Catania (Italy); Starting Grant 2020, University of Catania (Italy); Fondi di Ateneo 2020–2022, University of Catania (Italy), linea Open Access. Research Project 2016–2018, University of Catania 5A722192134.

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  1. Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, sezione Patologia Vegetale, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123, Catania, Italy

    Dalia Aiello, Giorgio Gusella, Alessandro Vitale & Giancarlo Polizzi

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  1. Dalia Aiello
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Correspondence to Alessandro Vitale.

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Aiello, D., Gusella, G., Vitale, A. et al. Characterization of Fusarium nirenbergiae and F. elaeidis causing diseases on Dipladenia and Grevillea plants. Eur J Plant Pathol 162, 885–896 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02444-z

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