Technical Factsheet

Basic

9 October 2023

Lasiodiplodia theobromae (diplodia pod rot of cocoa)

Publication: PlantwisePlus Knowledge Bank

https://doi.org/10.1079/pwkb.species.40844

Identity

Preferred Scientific Name: Lasiodiplodia theobromae (Pat.) Griffiths & Maubl.
Preferred Common Name: diplodia pod rot of cocoa
Other Scientific Names: Botryodiplodia ananassae (Sacc.) Petr.; Botryodiplodia elasticae Petch; Botryodiplodia gossypii Ellis & Barthol; Botryodiplodia theobromae Pat.; Botryodiplodia tubericola (Ellis & Everh.) Petr.; Botryosphaeria rhodina (Cooke) Arx; Chaetodiplodia grisea Petch; Diplodia ananassae Sacc.; Diplodia cacaoicola Henn.; Diplodia gossypina Cooke; Diplodia natalensis Pole-Evans; Diplodia theobromae (Pat.) W. Nowell; Diplodia tubericola (Ellis & Everh.) Taubenh; Lasiodiplodia triflorae B. B. Higgins; Lasiodiplodia tubericola Ellis & Everh.; Macrophomina vestita Prillinger & Delacr.; Physalospora rhodina Berk. & M.A. Curtis
International Common Names: English
bot gummosis of Citrus limon
brown pod rot of cocoa
Java black rot (of [stored] sweet potato)
stem end rot of papaya; Spanish
piña parda del cacao; French
pourriture noire des cabosses
Local Common Names: Germany
Fruchtfäule
Gummose: Zitrus
Kapselfäule: Baumwolle
Kronenfäule: Banane
Stammfäule
Stengelendfäule
EPPO code: PHYORH (Botryosphaeria rhodina)

Pictures

Symptoms on grapefruit
Stem-end rot of grapefruit.
©Anna L. Snowdon

Symptoms on banana
Finger rot of banana fruit.
©Anna L. Snowdon

Symptoms on starfruit
Advanced decay of starfruit (Averrhoa carambola).
©Anna L. Snowdon

Immature conidia
Immature (white) conidia in the form of 'spore tendrils' exuding from pycnidia.
©Anna L. Snowdon

Mature conidia
Conidia have matured and darkened.
©Anna L. Snowdon

Lasiodiplodia theobromae
Black arm of avocado
Eric Boa

Stem end rot
Avocado fruit showing dark decay with a well-defined margin, damage from stem end rot.
David Rosen/UC Davis IPM

B. theobromae - line drawing
A-B, V. S. of pycnidia; C, conidiogenous cells and conidia; D, conidia. CMI Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria No. 519. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
©CABI BioScience

Lasiodiplodia theobromae
Charles Averre, North Carolina State University, bugwood.org
Refer to Bugwood: http://www.bugwood.org/ImageUsage.html

Distribution

Host Plants and Other Plants Affected

Host	Host status	References
Abelmoschus esculentus (okra)	Unknown
Acacia auriculiformis (northern black wattle)	Main
Acacia mangium (brown salwood)	Other	Maid et al. (2018)
Actinidia chinensis (Chinese gooseberry)	Other
Agave vivipara (Caribbean agave)	Unknown	Reyes-García et al. (2023)
Allanblackia floribunda	Unknown	Olasupo et al. (2020)
Allium	Main
Alnus glutinosa (European alder)	Main
Aloe vera (true aloe)	Unknown	Khoo et al. (2022)
Anacardium occidentale (cashew nut)	Other	Prathibha et al. (2017) Cardoso et al. (2002) Monteiro et al. (2020) Aguilera-Cogley et al. (2022)
Ananas comosus (pineapple)	Main	Ganesan et al. (2022)
Annona cherimola (cherimoya)	Main
Annona muricata (soursop)	Other
Annona squamosa (sugar apple)	Other	Wang et al. (2022)
Aquilaria sinensis	Other	Fan et al. (2013)
Arachis hypogaea (groundnut)	Main
Araucaria cunninghamii (colonial pine)	Main
Araucaria heterophylla (norfolk Island pine)	Unknown	Wendu (2017)
Artocarpus heterophyllus (jackfruit)	Other	Ni et al. (2008)
Artocarpus integer (champedak)	Other
Azadirachta indica (neem tree)	Main
Bactris hirta	Other	Vitoria et al. (2012)
Begonia Elatior hybrids	Other
Begonia hiemalis	Unknown	Fujinawa et al. (2012)
Bertholletia excelsa (Brazil nut)	Unknown	Nakasone et al. (2022)
Boerhavia diffusa (red spiderling)	Unknown	Rashtra (2017)
Boswellia papyrifera (Sudanese frankincense)	Other	Alemu et al. (2014)
Bougainvillea spectabilis (great bougainvillea)	Unknown	Li et al. (2015)
Broussonetia papyrifera (paper mulberry)	Unknown	Luo et al. (2020)
Brunfelsia americana	Main
Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea)	Other
Callistemon citrinus (lemon bottlebrush)	Other
Camellia oleifera (oil tree)	Other	Zhu et al. (2014)
Camellia sinensis (tea)	Other	Li et al. (2019)
Capsicum (peppers)	Unknown
Capsicum annuum (bell pepper)	Main	Sowley et al. (2011)
Capsicum frutescens (chilli)	Unknown	Sowley et al. (2011)
Carica papaya (pawpaw)	Other	Helal et al. (2018)
Carissa spinarum	Other
Cassia fistula (Indian laburnum)	Other	Deng et al. (2015)
Casuarina junghuhniana (red-tipped ru)	Other
Cattleya	Other
Ceiba pentandra (kapok)	Unknown	Mamle and Jolanda (2015)
Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)	Unknown	Pisani et al. (2021)
Citrus	Main	Shahid et al. (2007) Sowley et al. (2011)
Citrus aurantiifolia (lime)	Unknown	Al-Sadi et al. (2014)
Citrus limettioides (palestine sweet lime)	Unknown	Al-Sadi et al. (2014)
Citrus limon (lemon)	Other	Guajardo et al. (2018)
Citrus maxima (pummelo)	Other	Luo et al. (2011)
Citrus reticulata (mandarin)	Unknown	Hu et al. (2011)
Citrus sinensis (sweet orange)	Unknown
Cocos nucifera (coconut)	Main	Zhang and Niu (2019)
Colocasia esculenta (taro)	Unknown
Corchorus olitorius (jute)	Other	Sato et al. (2008)
Cornus florida (Flowering dogwood)	Other
Cucumis melo (melon)	Other	Suwannarach et al. (2020)
Cycas rumphii	Other	Chakraborty et al. (2011)
Cydonia oblonga (quince)	Other
Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus (globe artichoke)	Other
Dacryodes edulis (African pear)	Unknown
Dalbergia sissoo	Unknown	Ojha et al. (2010)
Daucus carota (carrot)	Unknown	Sowley et al. (2011)
Dendrobium catenatum	Unknown	Liu et al. (2016)
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii	Unknown	Bengyella et al. (2015)
Dimocarpus longan (longan tree)	Unknown	Serrato-Diaz et al. (2014)
Dioscorea (yam)	Main
Dypsis lutescens (yellow butterfly palm)	Unknown	Melo et al. (2017)
Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian olive)	Other
Eucalyptus	Other
Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia)	Main
Falcataria moluccana (batai wood)	Other	Ji et al. (2017)
Ficus	Other
Ficus altissima	Other
Ficus benjamina (weeping fig)	Other
Ficus carica (common fig)	Other	Chen et al. (2018) Seo et al. (2019) Al-Mahmooli et al. (2022)
Ficus fistulosa	Other
Ficus semicordata	Other
Ficus virens (grey fig)	Other
Fortunella japonica (round kumquat)	Unknown	Gui et al. (2020) Ko et al. (2004)
Fragaria ananassa (strawberry)	Other	Yildiz et al. (2014) Nam et al. (2016) Oliveira et al. (2019)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)	Unknown	Chen et al. (2019)
Glycine max (soyabean)	Other
Gomphocarpus physocarpus (balloon cotton bush)	Unknown	Fischer et al. (2008)
Gossypium (cotton)	Main
Hevea brasiliensis (rubber)	Main
Hibiscus mutabilis (cottonrose)	Unknown	Bu et al. (2018)
Illicium verum (star anise)	Unknown	Li et al. (2022)
Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato)	Main	Alum et al. (2019)
Jatropha curcas (jatropha)	Other	Ritesh et al. (2014) Adandonon et al. (2014) Haggag (2014) Latha et al. (2012) Latha et al. (2009) Pereira et al. (2009) Sulaiman et al. (2012) Su et al. (2023)
Jatropha podagrica (gout plant)	Unknown	Fu et al. (2007)
Juglans regia (walnut)	Unknown	Haggag et al. (2007)
Kadsura longipedunculata	Unknown	Fan et al. (2021)
Koelreuteria bipinnata	Other	Tan et al. (2012)
Koelreuteria paniculata (golden rain tree)	Unknown	Baysal-Gurel et al. (2021)
Macadamia integrifolia (macadamia nut)	Unknown	Fischer et al. (2017)
Magnolia grandiflora (Southern magnolia)	Other	Hu et al. (2023)
Malus (ornamental species apple)	Other
Mangifera indica (mango)	Main	Khanzada et al. (2004) Al-Adawi et al. (2003) Al-Adawi et al. (2006) Abdul et al. (2011) Abdul et al. (2011) Ma et al. (2021) El-Komy et al. (2023)
Manihot esculenta (cassava)	Other	Bua and Okello (2011)
Melia azedarach (Chinaberry)	Main
Momordica charantia (bitter gourd)	Other
Monstera deliciosa (ceriman)	Other
Morus (mulberrytree)	Unknown	Kumari et al. (2011)
Morus alba (mora)	Other	Xie et al. (2014)
Musa (banana)	Main	Haque et al. (2003) Kolombia et al. (2023)
Musa balbisiana	Other
Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco)	Other
Olea europaea	Unknown	Pérez et al. (2018)
Olea europaea subsp. europaea (European olive)	Other
Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear)	Habitat/association	Flores-Flores et al. (2013) Swart and Kriel (2002) Ammar et al. (2004)
Oryza sativa (rice)	Other
Oxalis tuberosa (oca)	Other
Parkia	Other
Parthenium hysterophorus (parthenium weed)	Other	Kumar and Singh (2000)
Passiflora edulis (passionfruit)	Other	Zhang et al. (2021)
Passiflora quadrangularis (giant grenadilla)	Other
Persea americana (avocado)	Main	Qiu et al. (2020) Wanjiku et al. (2020) Arjona-Girona et al. (2019)
Phoenix dactylifera (date-palm)	Other	El-Deeb et al. (2007) Ammar and El-Naggar (2011)
Phyllanthus emblica (Indian gooseberry)	Other
Pinus elliottii (slash pine)	Other
Piper betle (betel pepper)	Unknown	Shahzad (2001)
Piper longum (Indian long pepper)	Other
Plukenetia volubilis	Unknown	Wang and Song (2021)
Polianthes tuberosa (tuberose)	Other	Durgadevi et al. (2014)
Polyscias balfouriana (Balfour aralia)	Unknown	Li et al. (2015)
Polyscias fruticosa (ming aralia)	Unknown	Rooney-Latham et al. (2017)
Prunus armeniaca (apricot)	Unknown	Soltaninejad et al. (2017)
Prunus domestica (plum)	Unknown	Soltaninejad et al. (2017)
Prunus dulcis (almond)	Other	Chen et al. (2013)
Prunus mume (Japanese apricot tree)	Other
Prunus persica (peach)	Unknown
Psidium guajava (guava)	Unknown
Pyrus communis (European pear)	Unknown
Pyrus pyrifolia (Oriental pear tree)	Other
Quercus virginiana (Live oak)	Other
Ricinus communis (castor bean)	Other	Tang et al. (2021)
Saccharum officinarum (sugarcane)	Other
Schizophyllum commune (wood rot)	Other
Selenicereus monacanthus	Unknown	Evallo et al. (2022)
Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)	Unknown	Sowley et al. (2011)
Solanum melongena (aubergine)	Main	Vieira et al. (2018) Woodward et al. (2005) Koshila et al. (2023)
Sorghum bicolor (sorghum)	Other
Spathoglottis plicata (Philippine ground orchid)	Main
Tabebuia impetiginosa (white tabebuia)	Other
Tabebuia serratifolia	Other
Tectona grandis (teak)	Other	Borges et al. (2015)
Tetrapleura tetraptera	Other
Theobroma cacao (cocoa)	Main	Kannan et al. (2010) Peter and Chandramohanan (2011)
Vaccinium (blueberries)	Unknown	Wright and Harmon (2009) Borrero et al. (2019)
Vaccinium corymbosum (blueberry)	Unknown	Pečenka et al. (2021)
Vigna unguiculata (cowpea)	Other
Vitis (grape)	Unknown	Aroca et al. (2008)
Vitis vinifera (grapevine)	Other	Correia et al. (2013) Akgul et al. (2014) Hemida et al. (2017) Taylor et al. (2005) Martin et al. (2009) Kaiser et al. (2009) Burruano et al. (2008) Niekerk et al. (2011) Akgül and Ahioğlu (2019) Mahadevakumar et al. (2023)
Zea mays (maize)	Main	Ma et al. (2016)
Zingiber officinale (ginger)	Other	Moreira et al. (2013)

Symptoms

L. theobromae and its presumed teleomorph Botryosphaeria rhodina have been reported to cause disease symptoms on a wide variety of plant species (Punithalingam, 1980; Sinclair et al., 1987). Leaf spots, cankers, root rots, foot rots and seed decays have been reported (Britton and Hendrix, 1982; Latham and Dozier, 1989; Punithalingam, 1976, 1980; Sutton, 1980).

In cocoa dieback and in cotton boll rot, the infected tissue shows brown necrosis with dark brown powdery spore masses. Such infected tissues show greyish-black mycelia.

Die back caused by L. theobromae is a serious diseases of mango which is more conspicuous during the months of October and November. It is characterized by drying of twigs and defoliation which give the tree a scorched appearance. The affected leaf becomes brown and the margins roll upwards. At this stage, the twig dies and falls from the tree. The disease is associated with discoloration and darkening of the bark and exudation of gum.

In citrus, L. theobromae is one of the fungi causing stem end rot of fruit. The rind around the button end softens, becomes brown and the affected area expands rapidly. A decay may appear at the stylar end as a result of the rapid spread of internal decay. Brown and Burns (1998) identified enhanced activity of the abscission enzymes that predispose oranges to L. theobromae infection.

In banana, L. theobromae can cause an important in-transit disease by wound invasion, especially when transit times are greater than 14 days from harvest to ripening. Infection often begins below the decayed flower. It results in a brownish-black necrosis of the peel and softening of the pulp.

Peanut collar rot, caused by L. theobromae, results in chlorotic, wilted or dead plants. Symptomatic plants exhibit blackened stem cankers and pods. Grey to black internal tissues were observed on diseased plant parts. Stem lesions at the soil surface harboured black, erumpent pycnidia (Phipps and Porter, 1998).

In Botryodiplodia canker of sycamore, the fungus produces cankers on the main stem and the branches. The disease is favoured by drought stress and high temperatures. Trees that are infected by Cephalosporium wilt fungus are more susceptible to attack by L. theobromae.

A postharvest rot of mango is frequently reported to be caused by L. theobromae. The rapidly spreading dark necrosis with a clearly defined margin begins at the stem end.

Ellis and Smith (1978) observed reduced seed germination in pigeon pea. In maize, L. theobromae causes ear rot (Eddins, 1930), black kernel rot (del Rosario, 1954) and stalk rot (Mehta et al., 1972). From Thailand, Mehta and Pupipat (1968) have reported a charcoal rot of maize incited by L. theobromae.

List of Symptoms/Signs

Symptom or sign	Life stages	Sign or diagnosis
Plants/Fruit/extensive mould
Plants/Fruit/lesions: black or brown
Plants/Growing point/rot
Plants/Inflorescence/discoloration panicle
Plants/Leaves/abnormal forms
Plants/Leaves/necrotic areas
Plants/Roots/soft rot of cortex
Plants/Seeds/discolorations
Plants/Seeds/rot
Plants/Stems/canker on woody stem
Plants/Stems/dead heart
Plants/Stems/dieback
Plants/Stems/gummosis or resinosis

Prevention and Control

Chemical Control

Due to the variable regulations around (de-)registration of pesticides, we are for the moment not including any specific chemical control recommendations. For further information, we recommend you visit the following resources:

•

EU pesticides database (http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/)

•

PAN pesticide database (www.pesticideinfo.org)

•

Your national pesticide guide

Impact

L. theobromae affects a very wide range of crops (see Host Range), particularly at the postharvest stage. As such rots are caused by complexes of pathogens, the economic impact is hard to quantify. However, Wadud and Ahmed (1962) have reported that L. theobromae caused maize seedling mortality up to an average of 57%.

The fungus is most important as a cause of postharvest food decay. It also causes damage in cocoa in the form of dieback disease. In citrus it causes stem end rot of the fruit and is the most important postharvest disease. In rambutan, stem-end rot caused by L. theobromae has been reported from Sri Lanka (Sivakumar et al., 1997).

L. theobromae has been identified as one of the major postharvest pathogens of mango (Mascarenhas et al., 1996), sweet potato (Ray and Punithalingam, 1996), cocoyams (Ugwuanyi and Obeta, 1996), durian (Sivapalan et al., 1998). For the first time, the occurrence L. theobromae in postharvest disease of quince has been reported in India by Sharma and Sumbali Geeta (1997).

In Nigeria, L. theobromae has been asociated with rot of black plum (Eseigbe and Bankole, 1996) and wilted groundnut plants (Osuinde and Daibo, 1999). Çeliker and Michailides, (2012) reported that L. theobromae causing a canker and shoot blight disease of fig (Ficus carica) trees in Turkey. Sulaiman et al. (2012) reported stem canker associated with L. theobromae on J. curcas in Malaysia for the first time.

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Published online: 9 October 2023

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English

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