Cadophora luteo-olivacea isolated from apple (Malus domestica) fruit with post-harvest side rot symptoms in northern Italy

Abstract

AbstractRecently, Cadophoraluteo-olivacea has been reported as a post-harvest pathogen of side rot of apple (Malusdomestica) in Latvia, and of pear (Pyruscommunis) in Italy and the Netherlands. In 2018 and 2019, in South Tyrol (northern Italy) 11 fungal cultures, identified as C.luteo-olivacea based on ITS (internal transcribed spacer region) sequence data, were obtained from apple fruit displaying post-harvest side rot symptoms. The fruit were sampled in packinghouses representing different apple growing areas of South Tyrol. For a more accurate taxonomic assignment, two additional molecular genetic loci, β-tubulin (TUB2) and translation elongation factor 1α (TEF-1α), of seven isolates were amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis based on multi-locus DNA sequence data confirmed that isolates from apple fruit with side rot symptoms indeed represented C.luteo-olivacea. A pathogenicity test performed on apple fruit of ‘Golden Delicious’ confirmed the virulence of a representative isolate. So far, C.luteo-olivacea represents a minor post-harvest pathogen of apple but considering the losses that this fungus can cause to other crops, the awareness about this potential apple disease should be raised.