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First Report of Alternaria Brown Spot of Citrus Caused by Alternaria alternata in Peru

Alternaria brown spot, caused by Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler, causes leaf, twig, and fruit lesions and reduces yield and fruit quality of many tangerines (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and their hybrids (3). In 2003, characteristic symptoms of brown spot were observed on young leaves and fruit of ‘Minneola’ tangelo in the Satipo Province of Peru. In 2004, the disease was discovered in the provinces of Chanchamayo, Leoncio Prado, and La Convención in the Junin, Huanuco, and Cusco regions, respectively, as well as in the Apurimac and the Ene valleys. In 2005, it was confirmed in the province of Oxapampa in the Pasco Region. Brown-to-black lesions surrounded by yellow halos and veinal necrosis were observed on young leaves, often causing abscission of young shoots and twig dieback. Light brown, circular lesions were observed on fruit, and when severe, resulted in premature abscission. Isolations from infected leaves and twigs were made on potato dextrose agar (PDA) with 10 μg/ml of benomyl. Colonies that developed after 5 days at 27°C were olive brown-to-black and produced small, muriform, pigmented conidia typical of A. alternata. On PDA without benomyl, gray colonies with conidia typical of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides were recovered frequently. Inoculation of three detached young shoots of ‘Minneola’ by spraying with a suspension of 10⁵ conidia/ml of A. alternata produced leaf and twig symptoms characteristic of the disease after 48 h and confirmed pathogenicity of three isolates. Symptoms were not observed on control leaves sprayed with water nor on an equal number of leaves inoculated with a suspension of 10⁵ conidia/ml of C. gloeosporioides. Reisolation of A. alternata from diseased tissue fulfilled Koch's postulates. DNA was extracted from 17 isolates and a partial endopolygalacturonase gene was amplified and sequenced (2). Sequences of all 17 isolates were identical, and in BLAST searches of the NCBI database, the closest matches were A. alternata accession nos. AY295023.1, AY295022.1, and AY295021.1 with 100, 99.8, and 99.8% sequence similarity, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that all isolates from Peru clustered with brown spot isolates from Israel, Turkey, South Africa, and Australia (1). These results, along with morphological characterization and pathogenicity tests, confirm the identity of the fungus as the tangerine pathotype of A. alternata. The disease has significantly reduced yield and the commercial value of fruit and may be a limiting factor for the production of susceptible cultivars in those areas of Peru.

References: (1) T. L. Peever et al. Phytopathology 92:794, 2002. (2) T. L. Peever et al. Mycologia 96:119, 2004, (3) L.W. Timmer et al. Pages 19--21 in: Compendium of Citrus Diseases. 2nd ed. L. W. Timmer et al eds. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 2000.