Mycelial and sexual compatibility in plant pathogen, Leucostoma cinctum

Abstract

The canker disease caused by Leucostoma cinctum is one of the most destructive diseases in fruit trees in Iran. For investigation of mycelial/sexual compatibility in L. cinctum, 64 isolates from 10 different plants, and 11 provinces of Iran were used. Isolates were crossed in all possible combinations on PDA at 25 °C for mycelial compatibility, and 14 multi-merge MCGs were identified among the isolates, revealing the average genetic diversity. In vitro sexual reproduction of the fungus was assessed using 14 ascospore progeny of two different perithecia, and the isolates were crossed in all possible pairwise combinations on culture media amended by different sterilized twigs. In four crosses on oatmeal agar with 2.5% sucrose, and apricot twigs, fertile perithecia were formed after 5 months, confirming heterothallic nature of the L. cinctum. Also, this is the first report of the in vitro viable sexual reproduction of the L. cinctum in the world.

Keywords:

• Cytospora cincta
• canker disease
• MCG
• teleomorph
• perithecium

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a partial grant from the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, so we are grateful to the University of Tehran.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors confirm that there are no potential conflicts of interest and also there was no need for ethical standards because the laboratory and field studies did not involve endangered or protected species or research did not involve human participants and/or animals.