Date palm is the most important crop in Oman, occupying approximately 50% of the area devoted to agriculture. Little information is available on leaf spot diseases of date palm in Oman and in the world. This study was conducted to identify the most common fungal pathogens associated with leaf spot diseases of date palm. A total of 198 symptomatic leaf samples were collected from seven districts in Oman. Isolations revealed that most isolates belonged to the genus Alternaria. Molecular-based identification using multigene sequences revealed that the isolates belonged to Alternaria alternata, A. burnsii, A. tomato, Curvularia subpapendorfii, Didymella microchlamydospora, Fusarium brachygibbosum, F. incarnatum-equiseti and Nigrospora lacticolonia. In pathogenicity tests, A. alternata was found to be the most aggressive. F. incarnatum-equiseti was the least aggressive, only inducing symptoms in leaves injured prior to inoculation. The other species caused moderate leaf spot symptoms on the leaves. This study shows that several fungal species belonging to different genera can be found associated with leaf spot symptoms of date palms, and they vary in their aggressiveness on date palm leaves. It is the first study to report C. verruculosa, D. microchlamydospora, and N. lacticolonia as leaf spot pathogens of date palm in the world.

枣椰子是阿曼最重要的农作物，约占农业总面积的50％。在阿曼乃至世界上，鲜有关于枣椰子叶斑病的信息。进行该研究以鉴定与枣椰叶斑病相关的最常见真菌病原体。从阿曼的七个地区收集了总共198个有症状的叶子样本。分离株显示，大多数分离株均属于链格孢属。使用多基因序列基于分子的鉴定，发现该分离物属于链格孢，A. burnsii，A.番茄，弯孢subpapendorfii，蔓microchlamydospora，镰孢brachygibbosum，F。incarnatum -equiseti和Nigrospora lacticolonia。在致病性测试中，发现交替链球菌是最具侵害性的。F. incarnatum-equiseti侵害性最低，仅在接种前受伤的叶片中引起症状。其他物种在叶片上引起中度叶斑症状。这项研究表明，可以发现几种属于不同属的真菌物种与枣椰子的叶斑症状有关，并且它们在枣椰子叶上的侵略性也有所不同。这是世界上第一个报告金黄色葡萄球菌，小衣藻和微小乳酸杆菌作为枣斑病的病原体。