| Summary: | <i>Camellia japonica</i> is a renowned flower and an influential plant in Chinese urban landscaping. However, <i>Colletotrichum</i>, one of the world’s most commercially important phytopathogenic genera that causes anthracnose on a wide range of plant species, have annually caused significant economic losses to <i>Ca. japonica</i>. In this study, 115 strains were isolated from <i>Ca. japonica</i> leaves with typical symptoms from the provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, Hainan, Guangxi, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Shanxi. They were then subjected to pathogen identification and using method of morphology combined with <i>ApMat</i> gene sequence analysis, along with the pathogenicity tests based on Koch’s postulates. The 115 strains were identified as <i>C. gloeosporioides</i>, <i>C. fructicola</i>, <i>C. siamense</i>, <i>C. camelliae</i> or <i>C. aeschynomenes</i>. Pathogenicity tests revealed that all species produced brown lesions on healthy <i>Ca. japonica</i> leaves, indicating significant virulence. Furthermore, <i>C. fructicola</i> had the broadest distribution and the highest isolation rate., Most importantly, this is the first report in China of <i>C. aeschynomenes</i> causing the anthracnose disease in <i>Ca. japonica</i>.
|
|---|