Forest Pathology (2014) 44, 45-55

A. Assefa, D. Abate and J. Stenlid (2014)
Characterization of Corynelia uberata Fr., a putative fungal pathogen of Podocarpus falcatus in Ethiopian forests
Forest Pathology 44 (1), 45-55
Abstract: Corynelia spp. are ascomycetes belonging to the order Coryneliales and are thought to be obligate parasites of trees in the Podocarpaceae. The aims of this study were to determine the disease intensity of Corynelia infection on Podocarpus falcatus in Ethiopian forests and verify the identity of Corynelia spp. from Ethiopia and other countries using morphological and molecular methods. Disease surveys were conducted in P. falcatus forest areas at Adaba-Dodola, Bushoftu, Menagesha, Shashamane and Wondo Genet in Ethiopia between 2009 and 2011, and samples were collected for morphological and molecular studies. Additional dried specimens morphologically collected as C. uberata, C. portoricensis and C. tropica from Podocarpus species in Kenya, South Africa, Puerto Rico and New Zealand were also characterized. Morphologically, the South African specimen (F-006479) of C. uberata had significantly larger ascospores when compared with the other specimens. There was a high sequence similarity (99-100%) in the internal transcribed spacer and 5.8S (ITS-5.8S) region among the studied C. uberata sequences. Cloning and amplification of the insert spanning partial small ribosomal unit (SSU) and ITS-5.8S regions of ribosomal DNA validated the unidentified ITS-5.8S region as the sequence of C. uberata by inferring the reference sequence of SSU rDNA of C. uberata in GenBank. Both neighbour-joining and/or maximum parsimony methods placed ITS-5.8S and SSU rDNA sequences of Corynelia spp. at the basal position of the clade Eurotiomycetidae. C. uberata was found to be a potential pathogen on leaves, fruits and young stems of P. falcatus in Ethiopia.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Jan Stenlid

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Corynelia uberata	Podocarpus (crop)	Ethiopia
	Corynelia uberata	Podocarpus (crop)	Kenya
	Corynelia uberata	Podocarpus (crop)	South Africa