Monilinia fructicola on loquat: An old pathogen invading a new host
YIN Liang-fen1, 2, ZHANG Shu-qin2, DU Juan4, WANG Xin-yu3, XU Wen-xing3, LUO Chao-xi1, 3
1 Key Lab of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education/Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P.R.China 2 Experimental Teaching Center of Crop Science, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P.R.China 3 Key Laboratory of Crop Disease Monitoring and Safety Control in Hubei Province, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P.R.China 4 Key Laboratory of Oasis Agricultural Pest Management and Plant Protection Resources Utilization, College of Agriculture, Shihezi 832003, P.R.China
Monilinia fructicola has been widely reported as the causal agent of brown rot disease on many Rosaceae family fruits worldwide. It has been reported on stone fruits, e.g., peach, plum, cherry, apricot and mume; as well as pome fruits, e.g., apple, pear and hawthorn. Loquat is a member of the Eriobotrya genus in subfamily Maloideae along with apple, pear and hawthorn. So far, loquat has not been reported as the host of any Monilia species. In June 2019, brown rot symptoms were observed on loquat fruits in an orchard in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Thirty single spore isolates were obtained and identified as M. fructicola based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis. This is the first report of loquat brown rot disease caused by Monilia species in the world. Furthermore, upon artificial inoculation, all three Monilia species from peach in China, i.e., M. fructicola, M. mumecola and M. yunnanensis, could cause typical brown rot disease on loquat fruits. At the same time, M. fructicola isolates from loquat showed virulence similar to those isolates from peach when the pathogenicity test was conducted on peach fruits. These results suggested that loquat could be infected by other Monilia species and that isolates from loquat also have potential to damage other Rosaceae family fruits in practice.
Fund: This work was financially supported by the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-30) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31401686 and 31872934).
Corresponding Authors:
Correspondence LUO Chao-xi, Tel: +86-27-87281242, E-mail: cxluo@mail.hzau.edu.cn
About author: YIN Liang-fen, E-mail: yh@mail.hzau.edu.cn
YIN Liang-fen, ZHANG Shu-qin, DU Juan, WANG Xin-yu, XU Wen-xing, LUO Chao-xi .
2021.
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