Identification and Pathogenicity of Pestalotiopsis chamaeropis, Causal Agent of White Heather (Erica arborea) Dieback, and in vitro Biocontrol with the Antagonist Trichoderma sp.

Abstract

Plant pathogenic fungi are one of the main causes of forest trees diseases. The symptoms of dieback include a foliage yellowing and fall, a drying and necrosis at branches, cankers, deformations, a blackish fluid and flow of rots at the level of the trunks. Symptoms of wilting were observed on one species of scrub: white heather (Erica arborea), located in the forest of “Henchir Kort” northeast of Tunisia. Isolations from the margins of these cankers revealed the fungal genus of Pestalotiopsis. Morphological and molecular analysis of the ITS allow to identify the pathogen as Pestalotiopsis chamaeropis. The Koch’s rules have been verified. The antagonistic effect between P. chamaeropis and Trichoderma sp. was assessed in vitro. Tests of direct or remote confrontation on PDA medium revealed that Trichoderma sp. inhibited mycelial growth of the pathogen compared to the untreated control.

Keywords

• Antagonistic effect
• dieback
• Pestalotiopsis chamaeropis
• Trichoderma sp.
• white heather