Zelkova carpinifolia is native to the Alborz mountains in Iran. It is a deciduous tree growing 20-35 m tall, with a trunk of up to 2 m in diameter. During the winter of 2011 cankers and dieback of branches were most commonly seen on zelkova trees in the Daland forest in Golestsn province. Cankers were enlarged and severely led to decline in March. Distinctive symptoms, assumed to be caused by a fungal infection, were observed in bark tissue of infected stems and branches trees. Cankered twigs, branches and stem were noticeable when dieback occurred. When the bark was removed, the wood beneath the bark was discolored brown to reddish-brown instead of white. In some cases cankers appeared sunken and darkened and in some cases were surrounded and contained by callus wound wood, particularly on larger branches and trunks. The bark of the canker’s area was peeled and dropped. To isolate the causal agent, surface-sterilized wood pieces of the infected tissue were plated on potato dextrose...

Severe decline of almond trees has recently been observed in several orchards on the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean Sea). However, the identity of the causal agents has not yet been investigated. Between August 2008 and June 2010, wood samples from branches of almond trees showing internal necroses and brown to black vascular streaking were collected in the Llevant region on the island of Mallorca. Several fungal species were subsequently isolated from the margin between healthy and symptomatic tissue. Five species of Botryosphaeriaceae (namely Botryosphaeria dothidea, Diplodia olivarum, D. seriata, Neofusicoccum australe and N. parvum), Eutypa lata, Phaeoacremonium iranianum and Phomopsis amygdali were identified based on morphology, culture characteristics and DNA sequence comparisons. Neofusicoccum parvum was the dominant species, followed by E. lata, D. olivarum and N. australe. First reports from almond include D. olivarum and Pm. iranianum. Two spe...

During a study of the species of Botryosphaeriaceae associated with oak decline in Tunisia, a large collection of Diplodia strains were isolated from Quercus afares, Q. canariensis and Q. suber trees showing a progressive dieback of shoots and branches, trunk canker and exudates and collar rot. Most of the isolates were identified as Diplodia corticola, while two isolates from Q. canariensis were morphologically and phylogenetically (ITS and tef1-α sequences data) distinct from all other known species of Diplodia. They are described here as Diplodia quercivora sp. nov. In addition, phylogenetic analyses showed for the first time the existence of two distinct lineages within D. corticola. In artificial inoculation experiments, D. quercivora caused necrotic lesions on bark and wood of three Mediterranean oak species, Q. ilex, Q. pubescens and Q. suber. In particular, among the oak species tested, Q. pubescens was the most susceptible.

Diplodia bulgarica has been recently identified on apple trees in Bulgaria and Iran. This fungus was isolated from apple trees in the west of Iran, showing canker, gummosis, dieback and twig blight symptoms. To determine its significance as a pathogen on apple, Koch's postulates were fulfilled by stem inoculation of 2-year-old apple trees (cv. Golden Delicious) under greenhouse and field conditions. Results confirmed D. bulgarica as a highly virulent pathogen on apple under greenhouse and field conditions. This is the first record of D. bulgarica as a pathogen of apple, emphasizing the need to study biological and genetic aspects of this new pathogen.

In a survey conducted during Januray-May, 2020, apple trees showing characteristic symptoms of frogeye leaf spots, canker and twig die back that in severe cases causing dead branches and severe defoliation have been observed from apple plantation of Umiam, Meghalaya. Isolation of the associated causal fungal agent was done in selective media and its cultural, morphological as well as microscopical studies were carried out. Furthermore, confirmation of the putative fungus was done by conducting pathogenicity test to prove Koch's postulate. From the available literature, the fungus associated with the disease symptom have been identified as Diplodia seriata causing black rot of apple. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first report of isolation and pathogenicity confirmation of black rot of apple caused by D. seriata from Meghalaya, India.

Almond canker diseases are destructive and can reduce the yield as well as the lifespan of almond orchards. These diseases may affect the trunk and branches of both young and mature trees and can result in tree death soon after orchard establishment in severe cases. Between 2015 and 2018, 70 almond orchards were visited throughout the Central Valley of California upon requests from farm advisors for canker disease diagnosis. Two major canker diseases were identified, including Botryosphaeriaceae cankers and Ceratocystis canker. In addition, five less prevalent canker diseases were identified, including Cytospora, Eutypa, Diaporthe, Collophorina, and Pallidophorina canker. Seventy-four fungal isolates were selected for multilocus phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer region ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and part of the translation elongation factor 1-α, β-tubulin, and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene sequences; 27 species were identified, including 12 Botryosphaeriaceae ...

In recent years, the number of apple trees affected by Botryosphaeria cankers and dieback has considerably increased in central Chile. This study aimed to identify the species of Botryosphaeriaceae associated with canker and dieback symptoms, estimate disease incidence and distributions, and study their pathogenicity and virulence on apple and other fruit crops. A field survey of 34 commercial orchards of apple (7 to 30 years old) was conducted in 16 localities, obtaining 270 symptomatic branch and trunk samples in 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. The incidence of Botryosphaeria canker and dieback ranged between 5 and 40%, and a total of 255 isolates of Botryosphaeriaceae spp. were obtained from 238 cankers. Morphological identification along with phylogenetic studies of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) of the rDNA, part of the translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1-α), and part of the β-tubulin (tub2) genes allowed us to identify Diplodia mutila (n = 49 ...