Biscogniauxia rosacearum as a pathogen associated with pistachio trees in Fars Province, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran

Abstract

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.), a member of the Anacardiaceae family, is one of the most worthwhile crops worldwide. Iran has the most favorable climate for cultivating pistachio trees. Charcoal canker disease has spread in Iran due to environmental climate changes such as drought and abnormally high temperatures. During the summer of 2023, infected pistachio trees in Fars Province died and displayed charcoal canker symptoms with carbonaceous stromata. In total, five isolates of a fungal species were obtained from necrotic wood tissues of declining pistachio trees in Sarvestan County, Fars Province. Morphological studies showed that none of the fungal isolates being examined were able to produce conidia or ascospores on different media, even after changing conditions such as pH, temperature, or light, making it impossible to perform morphological analysis of pycnidial and perithecial structures. Therefore, molecular identification was performed by phylogenetic analysis of the ITS-rDNA region and the β-tubulin (tub2) gene. The results revealed that the isolates formed a monophyletic group with Biscogniauxia rosacearum in a well-supported clade (posterior probability = 100). Pathogenicity tests showed that the isolates were pathogenic on detached pistachio branches, causing necrotic wood lesions on the bark that extended into the wood 30 days after inoculation. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first report of B. rosacearum associated with pistachio trees.

Keywords

Journal of Advances in Plant Protection
Volume 2, Issue 2
December 2025
Pages 1-10

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