Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

First report of powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe platani in Ailanthus altissima, the tree-of-heaven, in the Mediterranean basin, Italy

  • Disease Note
  • Published:
Journal of General Plant Pathology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In August 2018, a tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) showing symptoms of powdery mildew was found in Pisa, Italy. Morphological characteristics of the anamorph and molecular sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA verified the fungus as Erysiphe platani. In a pathogenicity test, powdery mildew patches were present on leaf surfaces 2 weeks after inoculation with the isolate. This is the first report of E. platani causing powdery mildew on ailanthus in the Mediterranean basin. The fungus, whose historical host range was confined to the genus Platanus, has expanded its host range to Ailanthus in Italy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  • Beenken L (2017) First records of powdery mildew Erysiphe platani and E. alphitoides on Ailanthus altissima reveal host jumps independent of host phylogeny. Mycol Prog 16:135–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumer S (1933) Die Erysiphaceen Mitteleuropasunter besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Schweiz. Beitr Krypt-Fl Schweiz 7:1–483

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun U, Cook RTA (2012) Taxonomic manual of the Erysiphales (powdery mildews). CBS Biodiversity Series 11, CBS, Utrecht, Netherlands, pp 707

  • Ciferri R, Camera C (1962) Tentativo di elencazione dei funghi italiani. 1) Erisifali (in Italian). Quaderni Istituto Botanico dell’Università di Pavia 21:1–46

    Google Scholar 

  • EPPO (2013) The German lists of invasive alien plants. EPPO Reporting Service no. 11 - 2013 Num. article: 2013/251. Available at https://gd.eppo.int/reporting/article-2713

  • Feret PP (1985) Ailanthus: variation, cultivation, and frustration. Arboric Urban For 11:361–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirata K (1966) Host range and geographical distribution of the powdery mildews. Fac Agric Niigata Univ, Niigata, p 472

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu SY (1979) Ailanthus. Arnoldia 39:29–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Klenke F, Scholler M (2015) Pflanzenparasitische Kleinpilze. Springer, Berlin, p 1172

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kowarik I, Säumel I (2007) Biological flora of Central Europe: Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle. Perspect Plant Ecol 8:207–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzini G (2016) Will a fungus save us from the Ailanthus invasion? Ital J Mycol 45:13–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzini G, Triolo E (1981) Contributo alla conoscenza delle malattie delle piante da fiore e ornamentali in Toscana. I. Erisifacee nuove o poco note. Riv Ortoflorofruttic Ital 65:189–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Nayak AK, Babu BK, Srivastava AK (2019) Identification of Erysiphe quercicola associated with powdery mildew disease on Ailanthus excelsa in India. Australas Plant Pathol 48:267–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer DM (ed) (1978) The powdery mildews. Academic, London, p 584

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamura K, Stecher G, Peterson D, Filipski A, Kumar S (2013) MEGA6: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 6.0. Mol Bio Evol 30:2725–2729

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toyoda H (2008) An inoculation assay of tomato plants for screening resistance to Oidium neolycopersici: tabulation of host responses and fungal growth on the laboratory list of common and wild Lycopersicon species. Mem Fac Agr Kinki Univ 41:177–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber E (2013) Invasive Pflanzen der Schweiz. Haupt, Bern, p 224

    Google Scholar 

  • White TJ, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor JW (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ (eds) PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. Academic, New York, pp 315–322

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Alessandra Marchica, Claudia Pisuttu, Antonella Calzone, Rodolfo Bernardi & Giacomo Lorenzini

Authors
  1. Alessandra Marchica
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudia Pisuttu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Antonella Calzone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rodolfo Bernardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Giacomo Lorenzini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giacomo Lorenzini.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. All experiments complied with the current laws of the country where they were performed.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 271 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marchica, A., Pisuttu, C., Calzone, A. et al. First report of powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe platani in Ailanthus altissima, the tree-of-heaven, in the Mediterranean basin, Italy. J Gen Plant Pathol 86, 428–431 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-020-00935-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-020-00935-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation