Genetic uniformity characterizes the invasive spread of Neofusicoccum parvum and Diplodia sapinea in the Western Balkans

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Zlatković, Milica
Wingfield, Michael J.
Jami, Fahimeh
Slippers, Bernard

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley

Abstract

In the past decade, trees and shrubs in the Western Balkans region have been damaged by canker and die‐back disease caused by Botryosphaeriaceae species. These pathogens include Neofusicoccum parvum and Diplodia sapinea. In this study, we determine genetic diversity and structure between populations of N. parvum and D. sapinea from Serbia and Montenegro (Western Balkans) using DNA sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer rDNA, translation elongation factor 1‐alpha, β‐tubulin‐2 and microsatellite markers. The relationship of both pathogens was compared for populations from the Continental (CR) and Mediterranean (MR) regions and for isolates of D. sapinea from Cedrus spp. and Pinus spp. Neofusicoccum parvum and D. sapinea were shown to have a low gene and genotypic diversity across the regions and hosts. All genotypes of D. sapinea found on Pinus spp. were also present on Cedrus spp. The CR and MR populations of both species were found to be only slightly separated from one another by a geographical barrier. Low genetic diversity and dominance of N. parvum and D. sapinea on non‐native trees suggests that these species have most likely been introduced into Western Balkans, possibly through the movement of infected plants.

Description

Keywords

Genetic uniformity, Invasive spread, Neofusicoccum parvum, Diplodia sapinea, Western Balkans, Genetic diversity, Genetic structure, DNA sequence data, Microsatellite markers, β‐tubulin‐2, Translation elongation factor 1‐alpha, Internal transcribed spacer rDNA

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Zlatković M, Wingfield MJ, Jami F, Slippers B. Genetic uniformity characterizes the invasive spread of Neofusicoccum parvum and Diplodia sapinea in the Western Balkans. Forest Pathology. 2019; 49:e12491. https://doi.org/10.1111/efp.12491.