Vegetative compatibility types of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, causal agent of chestnut blight, in the Black Sea region of Turkey

Abstract

Summary Vegetative compatibility types (vc types) of 296 isolates of the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica , were determined. The isolates had been obtained from 32 localities in 11 provinces in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Five vc types were detected: EU‐1, EU‐12, EU‐14, EU‐2 and EU‐5. The number of vc types found in single provinces varied between one and five. All of the five vc types were present only in the Kastamonu province. Vc type EU‐1 was detected in all the provinces. EU‐1 accounted for 90.8% of all isolates. Vc type EU‐12 was present in eight provinces and accounted for 6.8% of the isolates, whereas one or two isolates each of EU‐14, EU‐2 and EU‐5 were found in one or two provinces. Isolates possessing the white colony phenotype were considered to be hypovirulent. Hypovirulent isolates of each vc type were found, and they were detected in nine of 11 provinces.