Evaluation of Cryphonectria parasitica Isolates Collected from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Double ML, MacDonald WL, Taylor GM. 2012. Evaluation of Cryphonectria parasitica Isolates Collected from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Acta Horticulturae. (1019):85-89
To evaluate the frequency of naturally-occurring hypovirus-containing isolates in the southern Appalachian Mountains, one hundred fifty-nine cankers on one hundred thirty-nine American chestnut trees were sampled over a two-year period (2010-2011) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM). Trees were growing along GRSM hiking trails in Tennessee and North Carolina (USA). Cryphonectria parasitica was recovered from all cankers and from >95% of the samples. Vegetative compatibility (vc) testing identified fifty-two vc groups among the GRSM isolates using the sixty-four European Union (EU) vc testers. Isolates from one canker were putatively identified as hypovirulent, based on colony morphology, dsRNA extraction, single sporing and pathogenicity tests. These data indicate that a high level of vc diversity exists among the C. parasitica population in the GRSM and naturally-occurring hypoviruses are rare. Diversity in vc may represent significant restriction to hypovirus spread.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Double, Mark; MacDonald, William; Taylor, Glenn
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- American Chestnut, APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, canker, Cryphonectria parasitica, dsRNA extraction, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, GRSM-01039, hypovirus, Pathogenicity, SER, Southeast Region