Diversity of Botryosphaeriaceae and Diaporthe species associated with postharvest apple fruit decay in Serbia

Abstract

Family Botryosphaeriaceae and the genus Diaporthe (fam. Diaporthaceae) represent diverse groups of plant pathogens, which include causal agents of leaf spot, shoot blight, branch and stem cankers, dieback, and pre and postharvest apple fruit decay. Apple fruit with the symptoms of light to dark brown decay were collected during and after harvest from 2016 to 2018. Thirty selected isolates, which pathogenicity was confirmed, were identified and characterized based on multilocus phylogeny and morphology. Five species from the family Botryosphaeriaceae and two from the genus Diaporthe (fam. Diaporthaceae) were discovered. The most commonly isolated was Diplodia seriata followed by Botryosphaeria dothidea. In this work, Diaporthe rudis is described as a new postharvest pathogen of apple fruit. Diplodia bulgarica, Diplodia sapinea, Neofusicoccum yunnanense, and Diaporthe eres are initially described as postharvest apple and D. sapinea as postharvest quince and medlar fruit pathogens in Serbia. As species of the family Botryosphaeriaceae and the genus Diaporthe are known to cause other diseases on their hosts, have an endophytic nature, and a wide host range, findings from this study imply that they may become a new challenge for successful fruit production.