Diversity of sooty blotch and flyspeck fungi from apples in northeastern Turkey

Sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) is a mid- to late-season fungal disease complex that blemishes apples and other tree fruit crops in humid regions worldwide. SBFS is a concern for apple growers in northeastern Turkey, but the composition of the SBFS species assemblage in Turkey is unknown. In this study, SBFS fungi were isolated from apples collected in 2008 in the Rize Province of northeastern Turkey. Pressed SBFS colonies with subtending apple cuticle were shipped to Iowa State University for isolation. Of 633 primary isolates from 148 apple peels, 87 cultures were purified, 67 isolates were genetically characterized and 33 isolates examined for morphology. The internal transcriber spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA and a portion of the 28S large subunit region (LSU) were compared to previously identified fungi using parsimony analysis. Putative species were delineated from ITS sequences as well as morphology on apple and in culture. Twelve species were delineated based on parsimony analysis of ITS sequences and morphology. A newly discovered and described species from the survey was Scleroramularia abundans; newly discovered putative species included Zygophiala sp. FS3.3, Stomiopeltis spp. RS7.1 and RS7.2, and Chaetothyriales sp. F1; previously recovered putative species included Zygophiala sp. FS6 and Stomiopeltis sp. RS4.1; and previously discovered and named SBFS species included Schizothyrium pomi, Zygophiala wisconsinensis, Microcyclosporella mali, Microcyclospora tardicrescens, and Peltaster fructicola. Based on parsimony analysis of the LSU, one species was placed in the subclass Chaetothyriomycetidae and 11 species were placed in subclass Dothideomycetidae. Ten species were placed in the order Capnodiales. These findings expand the documented extent of genetic diversity within the worldwide SBFS complex and are the first published description of the composition of the SBFS complex from Turkey.