Geosmithia morbida

Last updated

Geosmithia morbida
Black Walnut Leaves.jpg
Signs of Geosmithia morbida and possibly a walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) on Black Walnut ( Juglans nigra )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Bionectriaceae
Genus: Geosmithia
Species:
G. morbida
Binomial name
Geosmithia morbida

Geosmithia morbida is a species of anamorphic fungus in the Bionectriaceae family that, together with the activity of the walnut twig beetle, causes thousand cankers disease in species of walnut trees ( Juglans spp.). [1] It was described as new to science in 2010 from specimens collected in the southern United States. The fungus, transmitted by the walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis, is known from the western USA from California to Colorado. The cankers resulting from infection restrict nutrient flow and typically kill the host tree within three to four years. Based on closeness of internal transcribed spacer DNA, the closest relative of G. morbida is G. fassatiae . The specific epithet morbida refers to the deadly pathogenic effect it has on its host. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Juglans</i> Genus of trees

Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus Juglans, the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, 10–40 metres (33–131 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres (7.9–35.4 in), with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts (Pterocarya), but not the hickories (Carya) in the same family.

<i>Juglans nigra</i> Species of tree

Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas. Wild trees in the upper Ottawa Valley may be an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.

<i>Juglans cinerea</i> Species of tree

Juglans cinerea, commonly known as butternut or white walnut, is a species of walnut native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada.

<i>Juglans regia</i> Species of tree (walnut)

Juglans regia, the Persian walnut, English walnut, Carpathian walnut, Madeira walnut, or, especially in Great Britain, common walnut, is an Old World walnut tree species native to the region stretching from the Balkans eastward to the Himalayas and southwest China. It is widely cultivated across Europe and the Caucasus.

<i>Juglans ailantifolia</i> Species of fruit and plant

Juglans ailantifolia, the Japanese walnut, is a species of walnut native to Japan and Sakhalin. It is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall, rarely 30 m (98 ft), and 40–80 cm (16–31 in) stem diameter, with light grey bark. The leaves are pinnate, 50–90 cm (20–35 in) long, with 11–17 leaflets, each leaflet 7–16 cm (2.8–6.3 in) long and 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) broad. The whole leaf is downy-pubescent, and a somewhat brighter, yellower green than many other tree leaves. The male flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green catkins produced in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The female flowers have pink/ red pistils. The fruit is a nut, produced in bunches of 4–10 together; the nut is spherical, 3–5 cm long and broad, surrounded by a green husk before maturity in mid autumn.

<i>Amorpha juglandis</i> Species of moth

Amorpha juglandis, the walnut sphinx, is the only species in the monotypic moth genus Amorpha, which is in the family Sphingidae, erected by Jacob Hübner in 1809. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ophiognomonia clavigignenti-juglandacearum</span> Species of fungus

Ophiognomonia clavigignenti-juglandacearum is a mitosporic fungus that causes the butternut canker, a lethal disease of butternut trees. It is also known to parasitize other members of the genus Juglans on occasion, and very rarely other related trees including hickories. The fungus is found throughout North America, occurring on up to 91% of butternut trees, and may be threatening the viability of butternut as a species.

<i>Monilinia fructicola</i> Species of fungus

Monilinia fructicola is a species of fungus in the order Helotiales. A plant pathogen, it is the causal agent of brown rot of stone fruits.

Xanthomonas arboricola is a species of bacteria. This phytopathogenic bacterium can cause disease in trees like Prunus, hazelnut and walnut.

<i>Botryosphaeria ribis</i> Species of fungus

Botryosphaeria ribis is a fungal plant pathogen that infects many trees causing cankers, dieback and death.

<i>Juglans hindsii</i> Species of tree

Juglans hindsii, commonly called the Northern California black walnut and Hinds's black walnut, is a species of walnut tree native to the western United States. It is commonly called claro walnut by the lumber industry and woodworkers, and is the subject of some confusion over its being the root stock for English walnut orchard stock.

Rhagoletis juglandis, also known as the walnut husk fly, is a species of tephritid or fruit fly in the family Tephritidae. It is closely related to the walnut husk maggot Rhagoletis suavis. This species of fly belongs to the R. suavis group, which has a natural history consistent with allopatric speciation. The flies belonging to this group are morphologically distinguishable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thousand cankers disease</span> Disease of walnut trees

Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a recently recognized disease of certain walnuts. The disease results from the combined activity of the walnut twig beetle and a canker producing fungus, Geosmithia morbida. Until July 2010 the disease was only known to the western United States where over the past decade it has been involved in several large scale die-offs of walnut, particularly black walnut, Juglans nigra. However, in late July 2010 a well-established outbreak of the disease was found in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area. This new finding is the first locating it within the native range of its susceptible host, black walnut. In 2013, an outbreak was found in the Veneto region of Italy, where the disease has been found on both black walnut and English walnut.

<i>Geosmithia</i> Genus of fungi

Geosmithia is a genus of anamorphic fungi of uncertain familial placement in the order Hypocreales. The genus, circumscribed by Australian mycologist John Pitt in 1979, is widely distributed. A 2008 estimate placed ten species in the genus, but several new species have since been described. Thousand cankers disease, which affects economically important black walnut populations in North America, is caused by Geosmithia morbida.

Pityophthorus juglandis, also known as the walnut twig beetle for feeding on several different species of walnut trees, Juglans, is one of only a few species in the genus Pityophthorus that is associated with hardwoods and the only one associated with feeding on walnut trees.

The foamy bark canker is a disease affecting oak trees in California caused by the fungus Geosmithia sp. #41 and spread by the Western oak bark beetle. This disease is only seen through the symbiosis of the bark beetles and the fungal pathogen. The bark beetles target oak trees and bore holes through the peridermal tissues, making tunnels within the phloem. The fungal spores are brought into these tunnels by the beetles and begin to colonize the damaged cells inside the tunnels. Symptoms of the developing fungus include wet discoloration seeping from the beetle entry holes as the fungus begins to consume phloem and likely other tissues. If bark is removed, necrosis of the phloem can be observed surrounding the entry hole(s). As the disease progresses, a reddish sap and foamy liquid oozes from entry holes, thus giving the disease the name foamy bark canker. Eventually, after the disease has progressed, the tree dies. This disease is important because of its detrimental effects on oak trees and its ability to spread to several new Californian counties in just a couple of years.

Xanthomonas campestris pv. juglandis is an anaerobic, Gram negative, rod-shaped bacteria that can affect walnut trees though the flowers, buds, shoots, branches, trunk, and fruit. It can have devastating effects including premature fruit drop and lesions on the plant. This pathogen was first isolated by Newton B. Pierce in California in 1896 and was then named Pseudomonas juglandis. In 1905 it was reclassified as Bacterium juglandis, in 1930 it became Phytomas juglandis, and in 1939 it was named Xanthomas juglandis. The International Standards for Naming Pathovars declared it to be named Xanthomonas campestris pv. juglandis in 1980. There have been recent proposals to change the name once again to Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis, but this has not yet been universally accepted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cypress canker</span> Plant fungal disease

Cypress canker is a disease affecting Cupressus species, caused by one of several species of fungus in the genus Seiridium. Infection causes die-back of twigs and branches in susceptible cypress trees, with rapidly increasing amounts of damage and the death of the tree.

<i>Quadraspidiotus juglansregiae</i> Species of scale insect

Quadraspidiotus juglansregiae, commonly known as the walnut scale, is a species of armoured scale insect in the family Diaspididae. It is native to North America where it feeds on a wide range of ornamental and forest trees and bushes.

References

  1. 1 2 Kolarik, M.; Freeland, E.; Utley, C.; Tisserat, N. (2011). "Geosmithia morbida sp. nov., a new phytopathogenic species living in symbiosis with the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) on Juglans in USA". Mycologia. 103 (2): 325–332. doi:10.3852/10-124. PMID   20943528. S2CID   35496500.