Cross infection of Colletotrichum species; a case study with tropical fruits

Abstract

Strains of Colletotrichum were isolated from the fruits of chili, coffee, longan, mango, papaya and rose apple, collected from orchards and markets in Laos and Thailand. Isolates were identified using morphological characters, colony growth rate, and confirmed with DNA sequence data analysis of combined multi-gene loci. Pathogenicity testing of ten strains representing five species of Colletotrichum was carried out on Capsicum sp. (chili), Carica papaya (papaya), Citrus reticulata (orange), Eugenia javanica (rose apple), Mangifera indica (mango) and Psidium guajava (guava) using a wound drop technique. Pathogenicity and potential for cross infectivity of Colletotrichum asianum, C. cordylinicola, C. fructicola, C. saimense and C. simmondsii were tested on the hosts. The Colletotrichum strains belonging to different species tested were generally shown to infect a wide host range.