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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424219
Research Project: Fungal Systematics and Diagnostic Resource Development for Safeguarding Plant Health

Location: Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory

Title: First report of Diaporthe arecae causing dieback in Mangifera indica in Brazil

Author
item GUREL, ANA - Federal Rural University Of Pernambuco
item DUARTE, INGRID - Federal Rural University Of Pernambuco
item REIS, AILTON - Centro Nacional De Pesquisa E Conservação De Primatas Brasileiros
item CAPUCHO, ALEXANDRE - Universidade Federal Do Vale Do São Francisco
item MILLER, STEPHAN - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Castlebury, Lisa
item CAMARA, MARCOS - Federal Rural University Of Pernambuco

Submitted to: Journal of Phytopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/26/2025
Publication Date: 9/8/2025
Citation: Gurel, A.G., Duarte, I.G., Reis, A., Capucho, A.A., Miller, S.T., Castlebury, L.A., Camara, M.P. 2025. First report of Diaporthe arecae causing dieback in Mangifera indica in Brazil. Journal of Phytopathology. 173(5). Article e70163. https://doi.org/10.1111/jph.70163.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jph.70163

Interpretive Summary: Brazil is the sixth-largest producer of mangoes in the world. In 2024, disease symptoms including tree death were observed. DNA analysis was used to identify the pathogen isolates as belonging to a fungal species that had not previously been noted to infect mango in Brazil, although it was known to infect mango in China. Microscopic characteristics were recorded, and the isolates were confirmed to cause disease by inoculating healthy mango tissue. This information is important to plant pathologists, mango breeders and regulatory officials as well as others seeking to manage or prevent the spread of this fungus to new areas.

Technical Abstract: Brazil is the sixth-largest producer of mangoes in the world, with significant production in the State of Pernambuco, the country's second-largest mango exporter. In January 2024, mango trees under commercial and domestic cultivation were observed in Pernambuco, in the municipalities of Recife, Itapissuma, and Petrolina, showing symptoms of dieback. The disease presented as sunken, dark-colored cankers, twig and branch dieback, plant decline, and, in severe cases, plant death. DNA analysis of isolated fungal nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacers (nrITS), calmodulin (CAL), histone (HIS3), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a) were performed, BLASTn against sequences available in GenBank and maximum likelihood multi-locus analysis placed the isolates within the D. arecae clade with 99% bootstrap support, Koch’s postulates were fulfilled. Diaporthe arecae (syn. D. pseudomangiferae) was previously reported as the causal agent of mango dieback (cv. Haden) in China (Serrato-Diaz et al. 2014). This is the first report of D. arecae causing dieback in mango (cv. Tommy Atkins) in Brazil.