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Etiology

Etiology of Preharvest Colonization of Bing Cherry Fruit by Fungi. Frank M. Dugan, USDA-ARS, Tree Fruit Research Laboratory, 1104 North Western Ave., Wenatchee, Washington 98801, Present address: American Type Culture Collection, 12301 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20852-1776; Rodney G. Roberts, USDA-ARS, Tree Fruit Research Laboratory, 1104 North Western Ave., Wenatchee, Washington 98801. Phytopathology 84:1031-1036. Accepted for publication 21 June 1994. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1994. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-84-1031.

During 1991–1993, the colonization of cherry fruit (Prunus avium ‘Bing’) by Alternaria spp., Aureobasidium pullulans, Cladosporium spp., and other fungi was detected soon after petal fall and thereafter until harvest, when 87–100% of surface-disinfested fruit yielded fungi. Taxa most frequently recovered were pathogenic to ripe, wounded fruit. Receptacular and stylar scars were frequently colonized. Histological sections of receptacle and stylar scar tissues from mature cherries revealed hyphae in walls and lumina of necrotic cells and vascular tissues.