sp. nov., the causal agent of pistachio cankers and decline in Italy.

A new canker and decline disease of pistachio () is described from Sicily (Italy). Observations of the disease and sampling of the causal agent started in spring 2010, in the area where this crop is typically cultivated, Bronte and Adrano (Catania province) and later extended to the Agrigento and Caltanissetta provinces. Isolations from the margins of twig, branch and stem cankers of declining plants resulted in fungal colonies with the same morphology.

Environmental and Pathogenic Factors Inducing Brown Apical Necrosis on Fruit of English (Persian) Walnut.

Brown apical necrosis (BAN) is a most recently described disease affecting English (Persian) walnut fruit. BAN was only recorded in intensively managed walnut orchards and was found to be a disease complex mainly caused by Fusarium species. All fungi associated with this disease are polyphagous and ubiquitous, not specific to walnut.

A newly developed real-time PCR assay for detection and quantification of Fusarium oxysporum and its use in compatible and incompatible interactions with grafted melon genotypes.

A reliable and species-specific real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was developed for detection of the complex soilborne anamorphic fungus Fusarium oxysporum. The new primer pair, designed on the translation elongation factor 1-α gene with an amplicon of 142 bp, was highly specific to F. oxysporum without cross reactions with other Fusarium spp.

Distinct colonization patterns and cDNA-AFLP transcriptome profiles in compatible and incompatible interactions between melon and different races of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis.

Background: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis Snyd.

The need for culture collections to support plant pathogen diagnostic networks.

Plant-pathogenic microorganisms, by virtue of their size, similarity in disease symptoms and closely related morphologies, are notoriously difficult to diagnose and detect. Diagnosis gives proof as to the causal agent of disease and is important for developing appropriate control measures. Detection shows the presence of a microorganism and is of importance for safeguarding national and international trade.

Polyphasic classification of Alternaria isolated from hazelnut and walnut fruit in Europe.

Brown apical necrosis of English walnut and grey necrosis of hazelnut are destructive fruit diseases caused by a complex of opportunistic fungi including several small-spored catenulate Alternaria taxa. Thirty Alternaria isolates recovered from walnut and hazelnut fruit that were pathogenic on their respective host were compared along with type or representative isolates of A. alternata, A.