Cryphonectria parasitica, the chestnut blight fungus, causes cankers on Quercus frainetto in Greece

Abstract

In 2011, cankers were observed on Hungarian oak trees (Quercus frainetto) in three localities in Greece. The pathogen was identified as Cryphonectria parasitica on the basis of morphology and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed region (ITS), part of the elongation factor 1a (EF-1a) and part of the beta-tubulin region (βT). A pathogenicity test was performed and Koch’s postulates were confirmed by re-isolation of the fungus C. parasitica from artificially inoculated detached twigs. This is the first report of C. parasitica as the cause of cankers on Hungarian oak trees in Greece.