Use of Telomere Fingerprinting to Identify Clonal Lineages of in Kentucky Mixed-Fruit Orchards.

Multiple species in the fungal genus cause anthracnose fruit rot diseases that are responsible for major yield losses of as much as 100%. Individual species of typically have broad host ranges and can infect multiple fruit species. causes anthracnose fruit rots of apples, blueberries, and strawberries in Kentucky orchards where these fruits grow in close proximity. This raises the possibility of cross-infection, which may have significant management implications. The potential occurrence of cross-infection was investigated by using telomere fingerprinting to identify clones in several mixed-fruit orchards. Telomere fingerprints were highly polymorphic among a test group of strains and effectively defined clonal lineages. Fingerprints were compared among apple, blueberry, and strawberry isolates of from three different orchards and similarity matrices were calculated to build phylograms for each orchard group. Multiple clonal lineages of were identified within each orchard on the same fruit host. Related lineages were found among isolates from different hosts, but the results did not provide direct evidence for cross-infection of different fruit species by the same clones. Recovery of the same clonal lineages within orchards across multiple years suggested that local dispersal was important in pathogen population structure and that strains persisted within orchards over time. Isolates from blueberry were less diverse than isolates from apple, perhaps related to more intensive anthracnose management protocols on apple versus blueberry. Telomere fingerprinting is a valuable tool for understanding population dynamics of fruit rot fungi.