First report of Cryphonectria carpinicola in the Balkans and Cryphonectria radicalis in Bulgaria
Journal
Book of Abstracts, Intern. Sci. Conf. Better Forestry, for Better Forest, for a Better Planet, "Hans Em" Faculty for Forest Sciences, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Engineering
Date Issued
2022-06
Author(s)
Corneo, Carolina
Risteski, Mihajlo
Rigling, Daniel
Abstract
The members of Cryphonectria are known to infect deciduous tree genera of forests,
orchards and urban spaces. Its most infamous representative, C. parasitica, causes
the blight disease in chestnut trees and is considered as the most aggressive
Cryphonectria species in Europe. To study the invasion dynamics of C. parasitica,
we have conducted sampling campaigns of symptomatic Castanea sativa in the
Balkans since the mid 1990-ties. During isolation of fungi from the bark material, in
some cases we encountered atypical mycelia, suggesting that different Cryphonectria
species may be present in this region. The aim of this study was to identify the species
of atypical cultures, excluding the well-studied C. parasitica. For this purpose, we
combed through our isolate collection, preserved on dried glass filter, and recultivated
up-to-25-year-old samples to obtain DNA from the cultures. If the dry samples were
no longer alive, we applied forensic DNA extraction to recover DNA directly from the
glass filter. We sequenced the ITS barcode of twelve atypical specimens preserved
in our collection, and confirm here the presence of the recently described
Cryphonectria carpinicola on a Carpinus tree from the Berkovska Stara Planina
Mountain in Bulgaria, collected in 2007. Additionally, we also report the occurrence
of Cryphonectria radicalis in the region of Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria isolated from C.
sativa in 2005 and 2007. The oldest examined specimen dates from 1998 and is
Cryphonectria radicalis from Belasitsa Mountain in North Macedonia, also previously
reported. Cryphonectria carpinicola became noticeable only in the last two decades
on declining hornbeam trees in urban areas of Central Europe. It shows only slight
differences in morphology and anatomy to the two closely related species C. radicalis
and C. naterciae, and differs from most other Cryphonectria species due to its
preference for Carpinus trees as main hosts, while other Cryphonectria species are
found on Castanea or Quercus trees.
orchards and urban spaces. Its most infamous representative, C. parasitica, causes
the blight disease in chestnut trees and is considered as the most aggressive
Cryphonectria species in Europe. To study the invasion dynamics of C. parasitica,
we have conducted sampling campaigns of symptomatic Castanea sativa in the
Balkans since the mid 1990-ties. During isolation of fungi from the bark material, in
some cases we encountered atypical mycelia, suggesting that different Cryphonectria
species may be present in this region. The aim of this study was to identify the species
of atypical cultures, excluding the well-studied C. parasitica. For this purpose, we
combed through our isolate collection, preserved on dried glass filter, and recultivated
up-to-25-year-old samples to obtain DNA from the cultures. If the dry samples were
no longer alive, we applied forensic DNA extraction to recover DNA directly from the
glass filter. We sequenced the ITS barcode of twelve atypical specimens preserved
in our collection, and confirm here the presence of the recently described
Cryphonectria carpinicola on a Carpinus tree from the Berkovska Stara Planina
Mountain in Bulgaria, collected in 2007. Additionally, we also report the occurrence
of Cryphonectria radicalis in the region of Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria isolated from C.
sativa in 2005 and 2007. The oldest examined specimen dates from 1998 and is
Cryphonectria radicalis from Belasitsa Mountain in North Macedonia, also previously
reported. Cryphonectria carpinicola became noticeable only in the last two decades
on declining hornbeam trees in urban areas of Central Europe. It shows only slight
differences in morphology and anatomy to the two closely related species C. radicalis
and C. naterciae, and differs from most other Cryphonectria species due to its
preference for Carpinus trees as main hosts, while other Cryphonectria species are
found on Castanea or Quercus trees.
Subjects