Seiridium cupressi is the common cause of cypress canker in south-eastern Australia
J. H. CunningtonDepartment of Primary Industries, Knoxfield Centre, Private Bag 15, Ferntree Gully Delivery Centre, Vic. 3156, Australia. Corresponding author. Email: james.cunnington@dpi.vic.gov.au
Australasian Plant Disease Notes 2(1) 53-55 https://doi.org/10.1071/DN07014
Submitted: 27 February 2007 Accepted: 6 March 2007 Published: 2 April 2007
Abstract
Cypress canker is a common disease in south-eastern Australia. The taxonomy of the Seiridium species that cause the disease has been debated due to variable morphological characters, but in Australia most workers have followed H.J. Swart and called the pathogen Seiridium unicorne. Using β-tubulin gene intron sequences, five Australian cultures were determined to be S. cupressi, rather than S. unicorne. Morphological identification of a range of herbarium specimens confirmed that S. cupressi is the common cause of cypress canker in south-eastern Australia.
Acknowledgements
I thank Sri Kanthi de Alwis and Ramez Aldaoud for providing me with fresh material and Rodney Jones for his technical assistance.
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