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First Report of Bronze Leaf Disease on Hybrid Poplar (Populus × canescens ‘Tower’) Caused by Apioplagiostoma populi in Manitoba, Canada

Poplars (Populus alba × P. tremula (P. × canescens) (Aiton) Smith cv. Tower) are common ornamental and windbreak trees in Manitoba and across the Canadian prairie provinces because of their rapid growth and columnar growth habit. Bronze leaf disease symptoms have been reported on five poplar species (P. alba, P. canescens, P. grandidentata, P. tremula, and P. tremuloides) (2), and the disease presents a significant barrier to the development and continued use of poplars (1). Elimination of tower poplars would represent a significant loss to the Canadian horticultural industry, and the costs incurred in the replacement of existing windbreaks would be high. In August 2002, we observed symptoms of bronze leaf disease on approximately 20-year-old tower poplars, ranging in height from 8 to 12 m at a tree nursery and golf course near Carman, Manitoba (49°30′N, 98°0′W). The leaf laminae of affected plants were chocolate brown, and the petioles and veins were yellow to light green. In the nursery windbreak, 70 trees had foliar symptoms on 30 to 80% of the canopy. At the golf course, eight trees had foliar symptoms on approximately 5 to 20% of the canopy. No fruiting structures were visible on leaf or shoot tissue, and no staining of vascular tissues was observed. Attempts to isolate the causal fungus of bronze leaf disease on artificial media have been unsuccessful (2). In October 2002, branches with symptomatic leaves were covered with netting, and the trapped leaves were left to overwinter. In March 2003, symptomatic leaves were brought to the laboratory and surface sterilized in 1% NaOCl for 1 min, rinsed with sterile water, and incubated at 18°C in moist chambers. After 2 weeks, dark brown, beaked, single perithecia that were 150 to 200 μm long × 150 μm wide emerged from the upper and lower leaf surfaces. Asci were fusoid clavate with a conspicuous apical ring and contained 4 or 6 spores. The two-celled, hyaline ascospores varied from 10.5 to 14.5 × 2 to 3 μm, the basal cell shorter than the apical cell. Leaf symptoms and microscopic fungal features matched those of Apioplagiostoma populi (Cash & A.M. Waterman) Barr, the cause of bronze leaf disease (1,2). Voucher specimens have been deposited in the U.S. National Fungus Collections (BPI 843385). To our knowledge, this is the first report of this fungus in western Canada, and the first confirmed report of this pathogen on tower poplar in Canada.

References: (1) E. K. Cash and A. M. Waterman. Mycologia 49:756, 1957. (2) J. A. Smith et al. Plant Dis. 86:462, 2002.