VIEW ARTICLE

Ecology and Epidemiology

Role of Penicillium funiculosum Strains in the Development of Pineapple Fruit Diseases. Tong- Kwee Lim, Graduate student, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822, Present address of senior author: Department of Plant Protection, University of Agriculture Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; K. G. Rohrbach, plant pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822. Phytopathology 70:663-665. Accepted for publication 11 December 1979. Copyright 1980 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-70-663.

Three strains of Penicillium funiculosum, viz a nonpigmented reverse strain P1, and two red-pigmented strains P2 and P3, were isolated from diseased pineapple fruits, withered pineapple flowers, debris in the plant heart, pineapple trash, and insects found on or around the plant. Comparative pathogenicity tests revealed that all isolates of the P1 strain were virulent and induced significantly high levels of interfruitlet corking, leathery pocket, and fruitlet core rot. Isolates of the red-pigmented strains and strains of P. funiculosum from other sources were not pathogenic. Inoculations at 1 and 4 wk after chemical flower induction with isolates of the red-pigmented strains resulted in disease levels significantly lower than in uninoculated check plants.