Latent infection of Biscogniauxia nummularia in Fagus sylvatica: a possible bioindicator of beech health conditions

doi:10.3832/ifor1436-008

Latent infection of Biscogniauxia nummularia in Fagus sylvatica: a possible bioindicator of beech health conditions

Nicola Luchi⁽¹⁾ , Paolo Capretti⁽²⁾, Matteo Feducci⁽²⁾, Andrea Vannini⁽³⁾, Barbara Ceccarelli⁽³⁾, Anna Maria Vettraino⁽³⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages 49-54 (2015)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor1436-008
Published: Jun 18, 2015 - Copyright © 2015 SISEF

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Biscogniauxia nummularia is a xylariaceous fungus known as a common endophyte of European beech, living in plant tissues without development of symptoms, or even inducing strip-cankers and wood decay on trees stressed by drought. We studied the presence of the fungus in apparently healthy beech trees, growing in two different bioclimatic zones characterized by Continental and Mediterranean climates. Asymptomatic twigs were collected in each zone over the season and evaluated for the presence of B. nummularia infections using both cultural and qPCR methods. Results from qPCR indicated differences in the detection of B. nummularia among the seasons and between the study sites. In both sites the highest frequency of detection was in summer. B. nummularia was more frequently detected in the Mediterranean bioclimatic area, where drought is more common. These results suggest that B. nummularia may be a possible bioindicator of beech health stands.

Keywords

Fagus sylvatica, Latent Pathogen, Real Time PCR, Xylariaceae

Authors’ address

(1)

National Research Council - Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, (CNR-IPSP), Via Madonna del Piano 10, I- 50019 - Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze (Italy)

(2)

Department of Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences, University of Florence (DISPAA). Piazzale delle Cascine, 28, I-50144, Firenze (Italy)

(3)

Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest Systems, University of Tuscia (DIBAF), Via San Camillo De Lellis, I- 01100, Viterbo (Italy)

Corresponding author

Nicola Luchi
nicola.luchi@ipsp.cnr.it

Citation

Luchi N, Capretti P, Feducci M, Vannini A, Ceccarelli B, Vettraino AM (2015). Latent infection of Biscogniauxia nummularia in Fagus sylvatica: a possible bioindicator of beech health conditions. iForest 9: 49-54. - doi: 10.3832/ifor1436-008

Academic Editor

Elena Paoletti

Paper history

Received: Aug 29, 2014
Accepted: Mar 05, 2015

First online: Jun 18, 2015
Publication Date: Feb 21, 2016
Publication Time: 3.50 months

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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