Eeva Terhonen, Teresa Marco, Hui Sun, Risto Jalkanen, Risto Kasanen, Martti Vuorinen, Fred Asiegbu. (2011). The effect of latitude, season and needle-age on the mycota of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 3 article id 104. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.104

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; needles; harsh environment; mycota; needle age; cryptic lifecycle; Hormonema dematioides

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The seasonal and latitudinal influences on the diversity and abundance of mycota of Pinus sylvestris needles were investigated. A sample of 1620 needles resulted in a total of 3868 fungal isolates, which were assigned to 68 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The majority of these OTUs (65%) belong to Ascomycota and only 0.03% was grouped as Basidiomycota. The dominant and most frequently isolated OTU was Hormonema dematioides. Other well-known species with a saprotrophic nutritional mode such as Lophodermium spp. were also observed. The abundance of fungi increased from fall to spring. Frequencies varied significantly in Northern and Southern Finland suggesting that factors associated with latitudinal differences have an impact on the abundance of fungi.

Terhonen, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: et@nn.fi
Marco, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: tm@nn.fi
Sun, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: hs@nn.fi
Jalkanen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Rovaniemi Research Unit, Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: rj@nn.fi
Kasanen, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: rk@nn.fi
Vuorinen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Suonenjoki Research Unit, Suonenjoki, Finland E-mail: mv@nn.fi
Asiegbu, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: fa@nn.fi

Category : Research note

article id 22008, category Research note

Eeva Terhonen. (2023). First report of Diplodia tip blight on Scots pine in Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 56 no. 4 article id 22008. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.22008

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; drought; Diplodia sapinea; Sphaeropsis sapinea; emerging fungal disease

Highlights: Diplodia tip blight is a new disease on Scots pine in Finland; Diplodia sapinea can be identified reliably with the presented pipeline.

Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Diplodia sapinea (Fr.) Fuckel causes shoot blight on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). This fungus has been discovered in Finland as a saprophyte in 2015 on Scots pine cones. The endophytic mode of this fungus was later discovered in healthy Scots pine twigs. In 2021 the disease, Diplodia tip blight was observed on Scots pine in Finland. Currently, the disease symptoms are poorly identified so the role of D. sapinea in disease outbreaks in Finland are easily overlooked. The identification of the fungi is challenging in field conditions and requires targeted identification in laboratory. In this research note I report the first Diplodia tip blight outbreaks observed in Finland, the typical disease symptoms, and methodology for the species identification. Samples were collected from symptomatic trees based on observations made by the citizens. Diplodia sapinea was isolated from defoliated and surface sterilized twigs. The species identification by morphological characters was further confirmed with sequencing of ITS region of rDNA and with species-specific primers. A pathogenicity test confirmed that D. sapinea was the disease agent causing shoot blight. This is the first report of Diplodia tip blight on Scots pine in Finland.

Terhonen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Forest health and biodiversity, Latokartanonkaari 9, FI‐00790 Helsinki, Finland 0000-0002-9288-440X E-mail: eeva.terhonen@luke.fi

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