Diplodia seriata, cause of black fruit rot in organically grown apples in Holland, Belgium and Northern Germany

摘要

A fruit rot resembling Gloeosporium infections but appearing on fruits prior to harvest was noticed in organic apple orchards in Holland, Belgium and Northern Germany in 2007. Infections were most commonly observed on 'Elstar', but other cultivars were also affected. Fruit colonisation progressed in two steps, whereby a latent stage of sunken black lesions in immature fruits gave rise to a rapidly spreading firm brown rot upon fruit ripening. Isolation experiments from both stages consistently yielded a single species of fungus identified as Diplodia seriata, formerly known under the teleomorph name Botryosphaeria obtusa. Lesions of D. seriata were also seen on leaves as necrotic light brown spots surrounded by a purple halo, and occasionally on small twigs as cankers. Fruit mummies on apple twigs were heavily colonised by D. seriata and are thus likely to carry inoculum for fruit infections during late summer or in the following growing season.