Neofusicoccum parvum, a causal agent associated with cankers and decline of Norfolk Island pine in Australia

摘要

Canker and decline of Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine) trees were observed during surveys conducted in the costal suburbs of Perth in 2009 and 2010. Samples from symptomatic and asymptomatic parts of trees were collected and morphological characteristics of the consistently isolated fungus analysed. The isolated fungus was identified as Neofusicoccum parvum using phylogenetic analysis of combined sequence data from the internal transcribed spacer of the rDNA (ITS), the translation elongation factor 1 alpha, beta-tubulin and RNA polymerase subunit II. N. parvum isolates were pathogenic when inoculated on excised branches of Norfolk Island pine. This species has been recorded on A. heterophylla in New Zealand, but this is the first report of this species causing decline and cankers of Norfolk Island pine in Australia and worldwide.