Abstract:

【Objective】 Determining the possible pathogens of apple fruit bitter rot in Shaanxi and He’nan provinces of China. 【Method】 The pathogens were isolated and their pathogenicities were determined. Identification was carried out by using traditional morphological methods and sequencing of rDNA-ITS with universal primers and species-specific primer CaInt2. 【Result】 One hundred and ninety two samples of diseased apple fruits were collected from eleven locations in Shaanxi and He’nan provinces of China. Two fungal species, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc. and C. acutatum J.H. Simmonds were found as possible pathogens of apple fruit bitter rot in these regions. The two fungal pathogens can be distinguished on the basis of conidial morphology, colony color, growth rate and specific amplification by primers CaInt2/ITS4. 【Conclusion】 It has been confirmed that the apple fruit bitter rot in China is caused by two fungal species, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. Both species were distributed in the districts sampled, but C. gloeosporioides was more often isolated.

Key words: Colletotrichum acutatum')">Colletotrichum acutatum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, rDNA-ITS sequence, diversity