Page 6 - Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2008

K. Elena et al. 4
Serious leaf spotting was observed on
Dichondra repens L. caused by the fungus
Alternaria dichondrae Gambogi, Vannac-
ci & Triolo in Attica (Southeastern Greece)
(Vloutoglou and Lascaris, 2000).
Severe leaf spotting on poinsettia (Eu-
phorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex. Klotzsch) leaves
occurred in red bract glasshouse culture in
Thessaloniki (Northern Greece), caused by Al-
ternaria euphorbiicola E.G. Simmons & Engel-
hard (Eleftheriadou and Tahmatsidou, 2001).
Alternaria brown spot onMinneolaman-
darins (Citrus reticulata Blanco x Citrus para-
disi Macf.) caused by Alternaria alternata pv.
citri, was observed in Northwestern Greece
causing drop of leaves and fruits. Manda-
rins Minneola, Nova and Page were very
susceptible to Greek Alternaria isolates test-
ed while Clementine SRA and Poros Clem-
entine were resistant (Elena, 2006a).
Phytophthora  spp.
Two new Phytophthora species were
identified during last years.
A boll rot of cotton (Gossypium hirsu-
tum L.) caused by Phytophthora boehme-
riae Sawada was observed first in the La-
rissa and Volos areas (Central Greece) and
later became a severe problem in all cot-
ton growing areas. When the soil was irri-
gated the pathogen formed its sporangia
which disseminated by the rain or sprinkler
irrigated drops (splash-dispersed) to the
lower half to two-thirds of cotton plants.
Usually fields with drip irrigation were not
affected (Elena and Paplomatas, 1998).
Root rot of parsley [Petroselinum crispum
(Mill.) Nym. Ex A.W. Hill] caused by Phytophtho-
ra primulae Tomlinson caused yield losses in
commercial fields during the winter at the area
of Marathon (Elena and Grigoriou, 2007).
Armillaria  spp. and Heterobasidion spp.
New Armillaria species have been re-
ported to cause root diseases of woody
agricultural plants and forest trees.
Armillaria tabescens (Scopoli) Emel was
detected in almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill-
er) D.A. Webb] orchards in Central Greece
causing considerable damage (Tsopelas
and Tjamos, 1997).
Armillaria gallica Marxm. and Romagn.
was common in coniferous and broadleaved
forest trees in the high altitudes of Central
and Northern Greece, predominating in
beech (Fagus sp.) forests (Tsopelas, 1999).
Armillaria ostoyae (Rom.) Herink has a
wide distribution in the mountain forests
of Northern Greece and causes significant
damage on fir (Abies borisii-regis Mattf.),
black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold), Scots pine
(Pinus sylvestris L.) and spruce [Picea abies
(L.) Karst.] (Tsopelas, 1999).
Armillaria cepistipes Velen. was re-
corded at high altitudes on mountains of
Northern Greece (Tsopelas, 1999).
Three other basidiomycetes: Heterobasidi-
on annosum (Fr.) Bref., Heterobasidion parvipo-
rum Niemela and Korhonen and Heterobasid-
ion abietinum Niemela and Korhonen caused
root and butt rot on coniferous forest trees in
the highlands of Greece (Tsopelas and Korho-
nen, 1996; Niemelä and Korhonen, 1998).
Phomopsis  spp.
Phomopsis mali Roberge causing fruit
decay of apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv.
Red Chief) was observed in the region of
Imathia (Northern Greece) (Karaoglanidis
and Bardas, 2006). The pathogen has pre-
viously been reported on pear (Pyrus com-
munis L.) (Holevas et al., 2000).
In the same area, the fungus Phomopsis
amygdali (Del.) Tuset & Portilla was frequent-
ly isolated from decayed peaches [Prunus
persica (L.) Batsch. cv. Andross) (Michailides
and Thomidis, 2006).
The species Phomopsis obscurans (El-
lis & Everh.) Sutton caused leaf spot on
strawberry (Fragaria vesca Coville), in the
orchard of the Agricultural University of
Athens (Grigoriou, 1992a).
Stem blight of asparagus (Asparagus
officinalis L.) caused by Phomopsis aspar-
agi (Sacc.) Grove was found in Western
Greece. Elongated, oval-shaped, lesions
were formed on the stems (Elena, 2006b).