Real-Time PCR Detection of Dogwood Anthracnose Fungus in Historical Herbarium Specimens from Asia.
Cornus species (dogwoods) are popular ornamental trees and important understory plants in natural forests of northern hemisphere. Dogwood anthracnose, one of the major diseases affecting the native North American Cornus species, such as C. florida, is caused by the fungal pathogen Discula destructiva. The origin of this fungus is not known, but it is hypothesized that it was imported to North America with its host plants from Asia. In this study, a TaqMan real-time PCR assay was used to detect D. destructiva in dried herbarium and fresh Cornus samples. Several herbarium specimens from Japan and China were detected positive for D. destructiva, some of which were collected before the first report of the dogwood anthracnose in North America. Our findings further support that D. destructiva was introduced to North America from Asia where the fungus likely does not cause severe disease.
Department of Plant Biology & Pathology, 201 Foran Hall, 59 Dudley Road, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, United States of America.
Stephen
S
Miller
Tohoku Research Center of Forestry & Forest Products Research Institute, 92-25 Nabeyashiki, Shimi-Kuriyagawa, Morioka, Iwate 020-0123, Japan.
Hayato
H
Masuya
Chinese Medicine Hospital of Gaomi, Shandong Province, 261500, China.
Jian
J
Zhang
Department of Plant Biology & Pathology, 201 Foran Hall, 59 Dudley Road, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, United States of America.
Emily
E
Walsh
Department of Plant Biology & Pathology, 201 Foran Hall, 59 Dudley Road, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, United States of America.|Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology, 76 Lipman Drive, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, United States of America.
Ning
N
Zhang
D001203:Ascomycota / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001208:Asia; D029768:Cornus / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D009656:North America; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004271:DNA, Fungal