Disease Note

European Race of Scleroderris Canker Found in Ontario. D. T. Myren, Canadian Forestry Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 5M7. C. N. Davis, Canadian Forestry Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 5M7. Plant Dis. 70:475. Accepted for publication 23 January 1986. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-475e.

The European race of Ascocalyx abietina (Lagerb.) Schläpfer-Bernhard (Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerb.) Morelet) was found in two locations in Ontario as the result of a provincewide survey by the Forest Insect and Disease Survey Unit (FIDS) of the Great Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC). The survey was conducted during May and early June of 1985 to collect isolates of A. abietina for race identification. Race determination was made by the serological procedure developed by C. E. Dorworth and J. Krywienczyk and was confirmed by Dorworth. The fungus was recovered from samples collected in a 10-yr-old red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) plantation near Bracebridge (lat. 45º08'N, long. 79º20'W) and from an 8-yr-old red pine plantation near Sprucedale (lat. 45º30'N, long. 79º31'W). These are the first collections of the European race of A. abietina in Ontario and are 225 km west of the previously known locations, representing a significant extension of the organism's range. Voucher specimens and cultures are in the FIDS collection at the GLFC.