Research helps explain source of pathogen that causes bitter rot disease
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Fungal spores responsible for bitter rot disease, a common and devastating infection in fruit, do not encounter their host plants by chance. Turns out, they have a symbiotic association with the plant, often living inside its leaves.
The new way of looking at the fungal pathogen, Colletotrichum fioriniae, as a leaf endophyte — bacterial or fungal microorganisms that colonize healthy plant tissue — was the outcome of a two-year study conducted by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
According to Phillip Martin, a doctoral candidate in plant pathology, the findings, which were published recently in the journal Phytopathology, have important implications for the management of the pathogen in fruit trees.
Colletotrichum fioriniae causes diseases, often called anthracnoses, in more than 100 fruit and vegetable plants, including apple, peach, pear and strawberry. The fungus infects the fruit under warm and wet conditions and causes brown, sunken lesions; occasionally, orange spores will be seen on the surface.