ARS | Publication request: Identification and Characterization of a Unique Fusarium sp. nov. ex Mangifera indica L. Causing Mango Malformation Disease in México

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 13, 2010
Publication Date: April 13, 2010
Citation: Rodriguez-Alvarado, G., Fernandez-Pavia, S., Otero-Colina, G., Maymon, M., Ploetz, R.C., Aoki, T., O Donnell, K., Freeman, S. 2010. Identification and Characterization of a Unique Fusarium sp. nov. ex Mangifera indica L. Causing Mango Malformation Disease in México. Meeting Abstract.

Technical Abstract: In this study we characterized fusaria that were associated with mango malformation disease (MMD) in México. From 2002 to 2009, 141 strains were isolated from symptomatic mango inflorescences and vegetative tissues from various cultivars in eight geographically diverse states. Initially, isolates were screened for genetic diversity using arbitrarily primed-PCR and RAPD DNA markers; at least seven genetically diverse MMD-associated genotypes were detected, one of which predominated (92 of 141). Based on the results of this genetic screen, maximum parsimony analyses of a five-locus dataset comprising 5.8 kb of aligned DNA sequence data were conducted, which indicated that at least nine phylogenetically distinct fusaria within the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (GFSC) may be associated with MMD worldwide. These include one species within the African clade (F. pseudocircinatum), two species within the Asian clade (F. mangiferae and F. proliferatum) and at least six species within the American clade (F. sterilihyphosum and five undescribed fusaria). These analyses also revealed that one of the undescribed species within the American clade of the GFSC (Fusarium sp. nov) appeared to be the most common MMD-associated species in México. PCR primers for the specific detection of the MMD pathogens F. sterilihyphosum and F. mangiferae failed to detect the unique Fusarium sp. nov. species. This novel, genealogically exclusive lineage could be distinguished with morphological features and, after artificial inoculation, caused malformation on nucellar seedlings of cultivar Ataulfo.