Anthracnose fruit rot and leaf blight caused by Colletotrichum species are important diseases of pomegranate in the southeastern United States. In this study, 26 isolates from pomegranate were identified based on pathological and molecular characterization. Isolates were identified to species based on multilocus sequence analysis with the internal transcribed spacer region, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, β-tubulin, and chitin synthase genomic genes. Pomegranate isolates grouped within the C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides species complexes, with more than 73% belonging to the latter group. Three species were identified within the C. acutatum species complex (C. nymphaeae [n = 5], C. fioriniae [n = 1], and C. simmondsii [n = 1]), and three other species were identified within the C. gloeosporioides species complex (C. theobromicola [n = 11], C. siamense [n = 6], and C. gloeosporioides [n = 2]). Inoculations of pomegranate fruit showed that isolates from the C. acutatum species complex were more aggressive than isolates from the C. gloeosporioides species complex. Interestingly, opposite results were observed when leaves of rooted pomegranate cuttings were inoculated. In addition, Colletotrichum isolates from pomegranate, strawberry, blueberry, mango, and citrus were cross-pathogenic when inoculated to fruit. This is the first study identifying six different species of Colletotrichum causing pomegranate leaf blight and fruit anthracnose in the southeastern United States and the potential cross-pathogenic capability of pomegranate isolates to other commercially important crops.
Keywords: Colletotrichum; Punica granatum; Southeastern; anthracnose; fruit rot; leaf blight; pathogenicity; phylogeny.