Sami, S; Mohammadi, H; Heydarnejad, J
During 2011-2013 various pome fruit tree orchards were inspected to study the fungi associated with trunk diseases in the Kerman and Fars provinces of Iran. Wood samples were collected from branches of apple, pear, quince and hawthorn trees showing yellowing, wilting, dieback, cankers and various internal wood discolorations. Six species of Phaeoacremonium namely, Pm. aleophilum, Pm. parasiticum, Pm. rubrigenum, Pm. scolyti, Pm. mortoniae and Pm. iranianum were identified based on morphology, culture characteristics and the partial sequences of the beta-tubulin gene (BT) data. Pm. aleophilum (16.1% of total isolates) and Pm. parasiticum (9.8% of total isolates) were the species most frequently isolated. We report Phaeoacremonium spp. on quince and hawthorn for the first time in the world. This is also the first report of isolation of Pm. parasiticum, Pm. iranianum and Pm. mortoniae from apple wood, while Pm. aleophilum, Pm. rubrigenum, Pm. scolyti and Pm. parasiticum are newly reported from pear trees. Tests were carreid out to determine the pathogenic role of these species on pome trees and grapevine. On grapevine shoots, Pm. aleophilum and Pm. mortoniae induced the longest and smallest lesions, respectively. On apple and pear shoots, the most aggressive species was Pm. iranianum while Pm. mortoniae was the least aggressive based on the length of vascular discoloration. On quince, the longest and smallest lesions were caused by Pm. iranianum and Pm. mortoniae, respectively, but the lesion lengths of Pm. mortoniae were also significantly different from the negative controls.