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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #349221
Title: A novel disease of big-leaf mahogany caused by two Fusarium species in Mexico

Author
item SANTILLAN-MENDOZA, RICARDO - Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolas De Hidalgo
item FERNANDEZ-PAVIA, SYLVIA - Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolas De Hidalgo
item O Donnell, Kerry
item PLOETZ, RANDY - University Of Florida
item ORTEGA-ARREOLA, RUBEN - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP)
item VAZQUEZ-MARRUFO, GERARDO - Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolas De Hidalgo
item BENITEZ-MALVIDO, JULIETA - Universidad Nacianal Autonoma De Mexico
item MONTERO-CASTRO, JUAN - Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolas De Hidalgo
item SOTO-PLANCARTE, ALEJANDRO - Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolas De Hidalgo
item RODRIGUEZ-ALVARADO, GERARDO - Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolas De Hidalgo

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/10/2018
Publication Date: 7/30/2018
Citation: Santillan-Mendoza, R., Fernandez-Pavia, S.P., O'Donnell, K., Ploetz, R.C., Ortega-Arreola, R., Vazquez-Marrufo, G., Benitez-Malvido, J., Montero-Castro, J.C., Soto-Plancarte, A., Rodriguez-Alvarado, G. 2018. A novel disease of big-leaf mahogany caused by two Fusarium species in Mexico. Plant Disease. 102(10):1965-1972. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-18-0060-RE.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-18-0060-RE

Interpretive Summary: Big-leaf mahogany, Swietenia macrophylla, is valued for its high-quality wood, use as an ornamental tree and as a windbreak in mango orchards in Mexico. During surveys of mango-producing areas in the central western region of Mexico, disease symptoms were discovered on big-leaf mahogany at four sites in Michoacán, Mexico, that resembled those of the vegetative phase of mango malformation. These included compact, bunched growth of apical and lateral buds with greatly shortened internodes and small leaves that curved back towards the supporting stem. The objectives of this research were to describe this new disease and determine its cause. Of the 163 isolates recovered from symptomatic tissues, most were identified using DNA data as Fusarium pseudocircinatum (N = 121) and F. mexicanum (N = 39). In addition, three unnamed Fusarium species were recovered from diseased tissue. Pathogenicity tests showed that only F. mexicanum and F. pseudocircinatum induced malformation symptoms on 14-day-old seedlings of big-leaf mahogany. The results indicate that F. mexicanum and F. pseudocircinatum, previously reported in Mexico as causal agents of mango malformation disease, also affect big-leaf mahogany. This is the first report on the etiology and pathology of this novel disease. This research will be of interest to plant disease specialists, plant breeders, and foresters who are charged with controlling this economically destructive disease and developing cultivars with broad-based resistance to it.

Technical Abstract: Big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is valued for its high-quality wood and use in urban landscapes in Mexico. During surveys of mango-producing areas in the central western region of Mexico, symptoms of malformation, the most important disease of mango in the area, were observed on big-leaf mahogany trees. The objectives of this research were to describe this new disease and determine its cause. Symptoms on big-leaf mahogany at four sites in Michoacán, Mexico resembled those of the vegetative phase of mango malformation, including compact, bunched growth of apical and lateral buds, with greatly shortened internodes and small leaves that curved back toward the supporting stem. Of 163 isolates that were recovered from symptomatic tissues, most were identified as Fusarium pseudocircinatum (n = 121) and F. mexicanum (n = 39) using molecular systematic data; two isolates represented unnamed phylospecies within the F. incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC 20-d and FIESC 37-a) and another was in the F. solani species complex (FSSC 25-m). However, only F. mexicanum and F. pseudocircinatum induced malformation symptoms on 14-day-old seedlings of big-leaf mahogany. The results indicate that F. mexicanum and F. pseudocircinatum, previously reported in Mexico as causal agents of mango malformation disease, also affect big-leaf mahogany. This is the first report of this new disease and the first time that F. mexicanum was shown to affect a host other than mango.