The fungus Kalmusia longispora is able to cause vascular necrosis on Vitis vinifera

PLoS One. 2021 Oct 15;16(10):e0258043. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258043. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Fungal diseases in agronomically important plants such as grapevines result in significantly reduced production, pecuniary losses, and increased use of environmentally damaging chemicals. Beside the well-known diseases, there is an increased interest in wood-colonizing fungal pathogens that infect the woody tissues of grapevines. In 2015, a traditional isolation method was performed on grapevine trunks showing symptoms of trunk diseases in Hungary. One isolate (T15142) was identified as Kalmusia longispora (formerly Dendrothyrium longisporum) according to morphological and phylogenetic analyses. To evaluate the pathogenicity of this fungus on grapevines, artificial infections were carried out under greenhouse and field conditions, including the CBS 824.84 and ex-type CBS 582.83 strains. All isolates could be re-isolated from inoculated plants; however, varying virulence was observed among them in terms of the vascular necrosis caused. The incidence and severity of this symptom seemed to be congruent with the laccase-producing capabilities of the isolates. This is the first report on the ability of Kalmusia longispora to cause symptoms on grapevines, and on its possible dependence on laccase secretion.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ascomycota* / isolation & purification
  • Ascomycota* / metabolism
  • Ascomycota* / pathogenicity
  • Laccase / metabolism*
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology*
  • Virulence
  • Vitis / microbiology*

Substances

  • Laccase

Supplementary concepts

  • Kalmusia longispora

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Széchenyi 2020 program, the European Regional Development Fund, and the Hungarian Government (GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00061). DGK and KZV were also supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Bolyai+ New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.