Diversity of vegetative compatibility types and mating types of Cryphonectria parasitica in Slovenia and occurrence of associated Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 |
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| Authors: | L Krstin S Novak‐Agbaba D Rigling M ?urkovi?‐Perica |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, HR 10000 Zagreb;2. Department of Biology, University of J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, HR 31000 Osijek;3. Croatian Forest Research Institute, Jastrebarsko, HR 10450 Jastrebarsko, Croatia;4. WSL, Swiss Federal Research Institute, CH 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight, has been present in Slovenia since at least 1950. To improve understanding of its diversity, 254 isolates of the fungus from 11 Slovenian populations were sampled. Fifteen vegetative compatibility (vc) types were identified. The dominant vc type was EU‐13, comprising 40·1% of all isolates tested, followed by EU‐1 (19·7%), EU‐2 (12·2%) and EU‐12 (9%). The vc type diversity in the most diverse population sampled in Slovenia was higher than in the populations found previously in northern Italy and Croatia. Both mating types and perithecia were observed in surveyed populations. Natural hypovirulence was found in six out of seven populations tested, with frequencies ranging from 72·2% in the population sampled near the Croatian border to 11·1% in the population sampled near the Austrian border. All identified hypoviral isolates (21) belonged to the Italian subtype of Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 and were closely related to the hypoviruses found in other European countries. Despite the high vc type diversity, incidence of hypovirulence was also high, indicating widespread natural biological control of the disease. |
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| Keywords: | biological control Castanea sativa chestnut blight disease dsRNA/RT‐PCR/RFLP epidemiology |
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