Armillaria root rot on some plant species in Pasargad County, Fars Province (Iran)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Armillaria species (Basidiomycota, Agaricales, Physalacriaceae) cause root and crown rot diseases on a wide range of plant species including fruit, forest, and ornamental trees throughout the world. During the fall and spring of 2023 and 2024, signs and disease symptoms similar to those of Armillaria root and crown rot were observed on Atlantic pistachio (Pistacia atlantica), tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), oriental plane (Platanus orientalis), elm (Ulmus minor and Ulmus sp.) as well as Iranian rose (Rosa damascena) in Pasargad County, Fars Province, Iran. This study aimed to isolate and identify suspected basidiomycetes associated with the decline of these plants. Root and crown samples from the affected trees as well as the basidiocarps were collected. Rotted tissues were surface sterilized with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, rinsed with sterile water, and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Monosporic cultures were also obtained from each collected basidiocarp. Cultural identifications of 10 representative isolates were confirmed by sequence analysis of a partial sequence of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef-1α) gene using EF595F and EF1160R primers. According to the results, all fungal isolates were identified as Armillaria mellea. Literature review indicates this is the first report of A. mellea on P. atlantica, A. altissima, and R. damascene and first record of this fungus on P. orientalis, F. excelsior and Ulmus spp. in Fars Province.

Keywords

Journal of Advances in Plant Protection
Volume 2, Issue 1
June 2025
Pages 57-70

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