Host range, genetic variability, and mating types of Lecanosticta acicola in Slovakia

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been an apparent Europe-wide emerging presence of brown spot needle blight, a disease of pine species caused by the fungus Lecanosticta acicola. In this study, we report the first well-documented occurrences of the pathogen in Slovakia, identified molecularly using species-specific primers and based on sequencing of the ITS region and TEF1 gene. Among the material collected from 84 locations within the country, L. acicola was present in 17 samples from 13 different locations, mainly distributed in urban environments. Four pine species were identified as hosts, among which, Pinus nigra and P. mugo were found to be the most frequently infected. Analysis of the mating type genes of 24 isolates obtained from two localities revealed the presence of a single mating type in Slovakia. All analyzed ITS sequences of the Slovak isolates were found to be uniform. However, although analysis of the TEF1 gene indicated that all Slovak isolates could be grouped into a single lineage, we detected nucleotide polymorphisms suggestive of a certain degree of genetic diversification within central European populations of the fungus.