Rapid detection of Ceratocystis fimbriata in infected wood of eucalyptus, mango, and other woody hosts.
Ferreira F. A., Maffia L. A., Ferreira E. A.
Author Affiliation: Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Fitopatologia, CEP 36571-000, Viçosa, MG, Brazil.
Fitopatologia Brasileira 30 : 543-545
Abstract : A quick histopathological technique was developed for the detection of chlamydospores (aleuroconidia) of C. fimbriata in infected xylem vessels and medulla of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) wood using light microscopy, and tangential hand prepared cross sections made with razor blade under a stereoscopic microscope. The average time necessary to detect the pathogen, including sample preparation and microscope observations, was 3.5 minutes or less when longitudinal sections passing by the medulla were made. Therefore, this method was significantly more rapid than other traditional techniques, such as pathogen isolation on potato dextrose agar medium, deposition of infected wood fragments between slices of carrot bait, or placing the infected pieces of wood in a moist chamber. This technique was also viable in detecting C. fimbriata colonizing other woody hosts, such as cocoa (Theobroma cacao), mango (Mangifera indica), and hyphae of Lasiodiplodia theobromae, even when both organisms were in the same tissue, as investigated in the mango blight disease in the Sultanate of Oman.