Disease Note

Anthracnose Fruit Rot (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) of Strawberry in Ohio. M. A. Ellis, Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster 44691. M. A. Bulger, Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster 44691. Plant Dis. 70:475. Accepted for publication 27 December 1985. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-475a.

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. et Sacc. (imperfect state of Glomerella cingulata (Ston.) Spauld. & Schrenk) was isolated from infected strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) fruits of Tribute, a day-neutral (everbearing) cultivar recently introduced in Ohio. Fruits of the cultivar Midway were inoculated with a conidial suspension (10⁵ spores per milliliter) of the pathogen, and Koch's postulates were completed on both wounded and nonwounded fruits. Symptoms on infected fruits were tan to dark brown, compact, sunken lesions generally covered with pink to salmon-colored spore masses. Both ripe and unripe fruit were affected. No symptoms were observed on other plant parts. The disease first appeared in late July 1985 on approximately 30% of all fruit in a 0.5-ha planting in Knox County. This is the first report of anthracnose fruit rot of strawberry in Ohio. The disease is generally restricted to the southeastern United States.