Isolation and pathogenicity of fungi associated to ambrosia borer (<i>Euplatypus segnis</i>) found injuring pecan (<i>Carya illinoensis</i>) wood

Euplatypus segnis is an insect pest of economic importance in pecan (Carya illinoensis) trees grown at Parras, General Cepeda and Torreón Coahuila, Mexico. The objectives in this study-were to identify the fungal strains associated to ambrosia borer body and diseased pecan wood and determine their pathogenicity. The results showed that the associated fungi to Euplatypus segnis and damaging the pecan wood were identified as: Helminthosporium sp., Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Phoma sp., Ascochyta sp., Phaecylomices sp., Umbeliopsis sp., Torula sp., Fusarium solani, Alternaria alternata, Fusarum oxysporum, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae. The pathogenicity tests on healthy 3 year old pecan trees cv. western using Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Alternaria alternata and Lasiodiplodia theobromae suspension conidia shown die back tree branches after 84 days inoculation. The insect in combination with the fungal invasion eventually cause the death of trees. Additionally, the insect contributes to the spread of fungi in pecan nut orchards.

First Report on the Presence of Phyllachora sp. in Corn Crops at Toluca, Estado de Mexico

Symptoms of Tar Spot Complex (TSC) in corn appear in the form of black spots surrounded by a chlorotic halo known as fish-eye. The crop with these symptoms was found at San Pablo Autopan, Estado de Mexico. The stromal region of foliar lesions was cut longitudinally, showing perithecia, asci and ascospores typical of Phyllachora maydis. The results were confirmed by PCR-ITS with ITS 1 and ITS4 initiators, cloned by pJET, before being sequenced and compared against NCBI’s data base. Phyllachora identity was confirmed. This is the first report where TSC pathogen has been detected under conditions that had not been previously reported, for instance, at 2600 meters above the sea level.

Genetic variability of Rhizoctonia solani Kühn and its resistance to fungicides

The aims of this study are to determine the population genetic structure of Rhizoctonia solani,associated with potato,and to assess its resistance degree to pencycuron and thiabendazole fungicides.A total of 57 strains of R.Solani were isolated from different potato crop fields in Mexico,and were classified according to their anastomosis group(AG)using the polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP)-based analysis.Then,the amplified fragments were digested with four different endonucleases(Mse I,Ava II,Mun I and Hinc II).The Repetitive Element Sequence-Based PCR(rep-PCR)technique was used to determine the genetic diversity in R.solani populations.Results obtained by PCR-RFLP showed that 81%of the isolates were identified as belonging to AG-3 group,14%to AG1-1B and 5%to AG-11 group.In response to fungicides inhibition,IC_(50)between 0.014-0.039 mg a.i./L for pencycuron,and 0.82 to 2.91 for thiabendazole were determined,This IC_(50)value showed that the resistance factor(RF)values ranged from 1.4 to 3.945 and 0.27 to 0.97,respectively;this tendency suggests that isolates are susceptible to thiabendazole.The AG groups showed a heterogeneous resistance to pencycuron and thiabendazole,being more tolerant to these fungicides AG1-1B and AG-11 groups.The genetic analysis shows a low genetic diversity among(P-value 0.3225)and within(P-value 0.3275)populations;this can indicate a clonal reproduction and little parasexual cycle among the analyzed isolations.