Journal of Plant Pathology (2007) 89, S61-S62

S. Sharrawi, I. Pentimone, T. Yaseen, L. Schena, A. Ligorio, A. Ippolito and F. Nigro (2007)
Diagnosis of latent infection caused by Monilinia laxa on sweet cherries by traditional and molecular methods
Journal of Plant Pathology 89 (3, Suppl.), S61-S62
Poster Presentation at S.I.Pa.V XIV National Meeting - Perugia, Italy 19-21 Sept. 2007
Abstract: Monilinia laxa is the causal agent of brown rot, one of the most important diseases of sweet cherries in southern Italy. The pathogen can elicit latent infections whose detection is a critical factor for developing an effective control strategy, as well as appropriate postharvest handling procedures. Usually, latent infections are diagnosed with traditional techniques, i.e. fungal isolation on agarized media from superficially sterilized tissues, freezing or dipping surface-sterilized fruits in a paraquat solution. In addition, retailers often ask for guarantees on fruit quality concerning possible development of storage rots. Some traditional procedures (surface-sterilization, paraquat solution and freezing), compared for two seasons (2006 and 2007), clearly demonstrated that, under favourable conditions, the incidence of latent infections can reach 100%. Beside the inefficiency, these procedures are time consuming and require specialized personnel for fungal identification. A molecular method was thus developed for the rapid and early detection of M. laxa latent infections. IGS region of the fungus was amplified, cloned, sequenced, and used to design species-specific primers. These primers enabled the specific detection of M. laxa DNA among DNAs from a wide range of different fungal species. Moreover, this method detected early brown rot infection in buds, flowers, and fruits of sweet cherries cvs Bigarreau and Ferrovia. IGS sequencing for M. frucigena and M. fructicola is in progress, in order to develop specific primer sets for more rapid and single-step PCR identification in different host species.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Franco Nigro, Leonardo Schena, Antonio Ippolito

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Monilinia laxa	Cherry (Prunus avium - Prunus cerasus)	Italy