AUTHOR=Hu Shuodan , Zhang Yanting , Yu Hong , Zhou Jiayan , Hu Meihua , Liu Aichun , Wu Jianyan , Wang Hancheng , Zhang Chuanqing 

TITLE=Colletotrichum Spp. Diversity Between Leaf Anthracnose and Crown Rot From the Same Strawberry Plant

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.860694

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.860694

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Leaf anthracnose (LA) and anthracnose crown rot (ACR) represent serious fungal diseases that pose significant threats to strawberry production. To characterize the pathogen diversity associated with above diseases, 100 strawberry plants, including varieties of “Hongjia,” “Zhangji,” and “Tianxianzui,” were sampled from Jiande and Zhoushan, the primary plantation regions of Zhejiang province, China. A total of 309 <italic>Colletotrichum</italic> isolates were isolated from crown (150 isolates) and leaves (159 isolates) of affected samples. Among these, 100 isolates obtained from the plants showing both LA and CR symptoms were selected randomly for further characterization. Based on the morphological observations combined with phylogenetic analysis of multiple genes (<italic>ACT</italic>, ITS, <italic>CAL</italic>, <italic>GAPDH</italic>, and <italic>CHS</italic>), all the 100 tested isolates were identified as <italic>C. gloeosporioides</italic> species complex, including 91 isolates of <italic>C</italic>. <italic>siamense</italic>, 8 isolates of <italic>C</italic>. <italic>fructicola</italic> causing both LA and ACR, and one isolate of <italic>C</italic>. <italic>aenigma</italic> causing ACR. The phenotypic characteristics of these isolated species were investigated using the BIOLOG phenotype MicroArray (PM) and a total of 950 different metabolic phenotype were tested, showing the characteristics among these isolates and providing the theoretical basis for pathogenic biochemistry and metabolism. The pathogenicity tests showed that even the same <italic>Colletotrichum</italic> species isolated from different diseased tissues (leaves or crowns) had significantly different pathogenicity toward strawberry leaves and crown. <italic>C. siamense</italic> isolated from diseased leaves (CSLA) was more aggressive than <italic>C. siamense</italic> isolated from rotted crown (CSCR) during the infection on “Zhangji” leaves. Additionally, <italic>C. fructicola</italic> isolated from affected leaf (CFLA) caused more severe symptoms on the leaves of four strawberry varieties compared to <italic>C. fructicola</italic> isolated from diseased crown (CFCR). For crown rot, the pathogenicity of CSCR was higher than that of CSLA.</p>