Botryosphaeria dothidea associated with grapevine decline disease in Iran

Abstract

Since 2008, there have been several reports on the occurrence of decline symptoms on grapevines in vineyards of East and West Azerbaijan provinces in Northern Iran by local farmers as well as plant protection clinics. The disease symptoms appeared as stunted growth, shoot dieback and wedge-shaped wood necrosis in cross section through the wood. Isolations were made from the surface sterilized tissues using routine plant pathology techniques. Based on the sequence data of ITS-rDNA and morphological characteristics of the conidia, the isolates were identified as Botryosphaeria dothidea. Pathogenicity assay using an excised shoot method revealed the isolates being pathogenic on grapevine. This is the first report on the occurrence of Botryosphaeria dothidea on grapevine in Iran. © 2012 Australasian Plant Pathology Society Inc.