Leaf spot of loquat ( Eriobotrya japonica ) caused by Pseudocercospora eriobotryae in Brazil
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Leaf spot of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) caused by Pseudocercospora eriobotryae in Brazil M. C. H. Rodriguez 1 & R. W. Barreto 1
Received: 23 February 2017 / Accepted: 10 April 2017 # Australasian Plant Pathology Society Inc. 2017
Abstract Loquat trees (Eriobotrya japonica) bearing leaf spot symptoms were found in Viçosa (State of Minas Gerais, Brazil). A cercosporoid fungus was associated to the disease and identified as Pseudocercospora eriobotryae based on morphological and molecular characters. Pathogenicity was demonstrated by inoculation of healthy leaves. This is the first report of P. eriobotryae in Brazil and the first time its pathogenicity to loquat is demonstrated. Keywords Cercosporoid . First report . Fruit tree . Pathogenicity . Rosaceae Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica, Rosaceae) is a subtropical, evergreen fruit tree, native to China. It is grown commercially for its edible fruits (Tziros 2013), which are eaten fresh or processed as jam and other products. Its leaves have been used as a source of medicine for the treatment of skin diseases and diabetes (De Tommasi et al. 1992). Loquat has been commercially grown in Brazil since the mid 1900s, mostly in the state of São Paulo (Caballero and Fernández 2003). It is also grown in cooler parts of south and southeastern Brazil. Although Brazil is one of the largest producers of loquat (Caballero and Fernández 2003), little has been investigated and published about the pathogens attacking loquat in Brazil and the crop is not mentioned in the main Brazilian plant disease compendium (Amorim et al. 2016). Only four fungal species are listed as occurring in Brazil on this host by Mendes and Urben (2017).
* R. W. Barreto [email protected] 1
Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais 36570-900, Brazil
Nevertheless, there are around 250 records of fungi associated with E. japonica worldwide (Farr and Rossman 2017). In 2016 a leaf spot disease, known to occur on loquat plants at several localities in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, was examined in detail for the first time. A sample was taken from plants grown in a private garden in Viçosa (state of Minas Gerais), dried in a plant press and taken to the laboratory for further analysis. A dematiaceous cercosporoid fungus was consistently found sporulating on infected leaves. A pure culture was obtained by direct transfer of spores obtained from sporulating lesions onto PDA with the help of a sterile fine pointed needle. Fungal structures were obtained by scraping the colonized plant tissue with a scalpel or by sectioning the lesions. These were mounted with lactic acid and examined under a light microscope (Olympus BX 51) equipped with a Olympus® E-volt E-330 camera. A representative sample was deposited in the local herbarium (Herbário da Universidade Federal de Viçosa) under the accession number VIC 44135. The pure culture was deposited in the culture collection under the accession number COAD 2099. Two weeks-old colonies grown at 25 °C under conti
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