Olive anthracnose caused by C. acutatum, C. gloeosporioides and C. boninense species complexes, is the most widespread and economically important olive disease worldwide. The most traditional symptom is fruit rot, but more recently a high incidence of blossom blight emerged in some olive world regions as Uruguay, causing significant losses. In this work, a collection of Colletotrichum isolates obtained from different organs with symptoms attributable to anthracnose, with special emphasis in blighted flowers, was characterized. Based in the analysis of six partial gene regions (GADPH, ACT, βTUB2, HIS3, APN2/MAT-IGS and GAP2-IGS) and phenotypical characters, five Colletotrichum species were identified. C. acutatum s.s. was found as the prevalent species (n = 89) followed by C. nymphaeae (n = 14) and C. fioriniae (n = 1) all belonging to C. acutatum species complexes. The other two species found were C. theobromicola (n = 3) and C. alienum (n = 1) both belonging to C. gloeosporioides species complexes. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of C. alienum causing olive anthracnose worldwide. Phenotypical characteristics differed mainly between the species complexes, validating their utility to separate the isolates to complex level. The tested isolates caused necrosis involving all floral organs and the typical “soapy fruit” symptom appeared regardless of the Colletotrichum species inoculated. Due the olive anthracnose being an extremely dangerous disease, further studies to development an effective management strategy are necessary to mitigate its incidence.

由C. acutatum、C. gloeosporioides和C. boninense物种复合体引起的橄榄炭疽病是世界范围内最普遍和经济上最重要的橄榄病。最传统的症状是果实腐烂，但最近在乌拉圭等橄榄世界地区出现了高发病率的花枯病，造成了重大损失。在这项工作中，对从具有炭疽病症状的不同器官获得的炭疽菌分离物的集合进行了表征，特别强调枯萎的花朵。基于对六个部分基因区域（GADPH、ACT、βTUB2、HIS3、APN2/MAT-IGS 和 GAP2-IGS）和表型特征的分析，确定了五种炭疽菌属物种。C. acutatum ss 被发现为流行物种 ( n  = 89)，其次是C. nymphaeae ( n  = 14) 和C. fioriniae (n = 1)，它们都属于C. acutatum物种复合体。发现的另外两个物种是C. theobromicola ( n  = 3) 和C.卫士(n = 1) 都属于C. gloeosporioides物种复合体。据我们所知，这项研究代表了异形念珠菌的第一份报告导致全球橄榄炭疽病。表型特征主要在物种复合体之间不同，验证了它们将分离株分离到复合体水平的效用。受试分离株导致所有花器官坏死，无论接种的炭疽菌属何种菌种，都会出现典型的“肥皂状果实”症状。由于橄榄炭疽病是一种极其危险的疾病，需要进一步研究以制定有效的管理策略以减轻其发病率。