Occurrence and etiology of Alternaria leaf blotch and fruit spot of apple caused by Alternaria alternata f. sp. mali on cv. Pink lady in Israel

Lior Gur, Moshe Reuveni, Yigal Cohen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Severe outbreaks of Alternaria leaf blotch and fruit spot were recently observed in cv. Pink Lady apples in northern Israel, especially on fruit. Such severe outbreaks have not been reported from other countries. Symptoms involved cracks and rot around the calyx and external rot of the fruit body. Up to 80 % of the fruit in some orchards were affected by the disease. Microscopic examinations, fulfillment of Koch’s postulates and molecular (genetic) analyses confirmed the causal agent as Alternaria alternata f. sp. mali. The incidence of Alternaria increased as the degree of calyx cracking increased, or if fruit were both cracked and rotted. Injecting spore suspensions into the fruit produced typical rot symptoms. Injection assays of detached fruit of eight apple cultivars showed that cvs. Pink Lady and Golden Delicious were susceptible whereas cv. Jonathan was resistant. Pink Lady and Golden Delicious produced more fruit rot as the inoculum concentration increased. Rot in all three cultivars was moderate close to the skin but more severe close to the seed locule. Aqueous extracts taken from Jonathan fruit peel inhibited germ tube elongation of A. alternata f. sp. mali in vitro. This is the first report on heavy infection of Pink Lady fruit in Israel caused by A. alternata f. sp. mali.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)695-708
Number of pages14
JournalEuropean Journal of Plant Pathology
Volume147
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Koninklijke Nederlandse Planteziektenkundige Vereniging.

Keywords

  • Alternaria alternata Apple pathotype
  • Alternaria blotch
  • Alternaria mali
  • Calyx cracks
  • Cripps pink
  • Susceptibility

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Plant Science
  • Horticulture

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Occurrence and etiology of Alternaria leaf blotch and fruit spot of apple caused by Alternaria alternata f. sp. mali on cv. Pink lady in Israel'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this