A
Monilinia fructigena-like isolate (UFT) was collected from apple shoots in northeastern Hungary (Újfehértó). Brownish dieback and buff-coloured
stromata were observed on shoots and small fruits of cv. ‘Ashton Bitter’. On potato dextrose agar (PDA) the colonies were
yellowish in colour and irregular black stromatal crusts occurred. Conidia (16.6 × 10.1 µm) were slightly smaller than the
average of
M. fructigena. The fungus caused brown rot on inoculated apple fruits, and produced numerous sporodochia. The sequences of the rDNA internal
transcribed spacer regions of the UFT isolate were almost identical to that of a previously described
Monilia polystroma isolate, containing all five nucleotides that distinguish it from
M. fructigena. Comparison of a genomic sequence of unknown function revealed that repetitive sequence motifs occurred in different numbers
as insertions in the genomes of
M. fructigena,
Monilia polystroma, and the UFT isolate. Classical and molecular characterisation indicated that the UFT isolate belonged to
Monilia polystroma. To our knowledge this is the first report of
Monilia polystroma in Europe.
Keywords Brown rot -
Monilia polystroma
- ITS region - Genomic sequence with unknown function