First Report of Muskmelon Fruit Rot Caused by Fusarium sulawesiense in China

HomePlant DiseaseVol. 107, No. 10First Report of Muskmelon Fruit Rot Caused by Fusarium sulawesiense in China PreviousNext DISEASE NOTE OPENOpen Access licenseFirst Report of Muskmelon Fruit Rot Caused by Fusarium sulawesiense in ChinaY. G. Liu, X. P. Zhang, S. M. Liu, X. P. Zhu, and J. W. XiaY. G. LiuShandong Provincial University Laboratory for Protected Horticulture, Weifang University of Science and Technology, Weifang, Shandong, 262700, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author, X. P. ZhangShandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Biology of Vegetable Diseases and Insect Pests, College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author, S. M. LiuShandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Biology of Vegetable Diseases and Insect Pests, College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author, X. P. Zhuhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7236-731XShandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Biology of Vegetable Diseases and Insect Pests, College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author, and J. W. Xia†Corresponding author: J. W. Xia; E-mail Address: [email protected]https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7436-7249Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Biology of Vegetable Diseases and Insect Pests, College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorAffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations Y. G. Liu1 X. P. Zhang2 S. M. Liu2 X. P. Zhu2 J. W. Xia2 † 1Shandong Provincial University Laboratory for Protected Horticulture, Weifang University of Science and Technology, Weifang, Shandong, 262700, China 2Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Biology of Vegetable Diseases and Insect Pests, College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, China Published Online:20 Oct 2023https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-22-1984-PDNAboutSectionsView articlePDFSupplemental ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat View articleMuskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) is a widely cultivated and economically important fruit crop worldwide. In June 2022, fruit rot symptoms were observed on ripening muskmelons (cv. Boyang) in Shouguang City (36.81°N, 118.90°E), China. To determine the causal agent, we surveyed 200 muskmelon plants in about 1,000 m2 of planting area and collected diseased muskmelons. Approximately 20% of muskmelon fruits had symptoms, and yield loss averaged 20%. Water-soaked lesions were observed on the surface, and the fruit rotted from the inside. Lesions were covered with white mycelium. Rotted fruits were surface disinfected with 1% NaOCl for 1 min and 75% ethanol for 30 s and washed three times with sterile water. Pieces (1 cm3) were cut from the disinfected fruits, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 25°C for 1 week. Ten isolates with similar morphology were obtained, and the isolates SG66 and SG68 were selected for further characterization. Colonies maintained on PDA in the dark had an average radial growth rate of 10 to 12 mm per day at 25°C. The surface was white, with velvety to felty mycelium. The reverse side was white to pale wheat. Diffusible pigments were absent. On carnation leaf agar, sporodochia appeared as slimy dots, and macroconidia were 3 to 5 septate, 20 to 35 × 3 to 5 μm, and falcate, with a pronounced dorsiventral curvature, blunt to papillate apical cell, and barely to distinctly notched basal cell. Microconidia and chlamydospores were not observed. These morphological characteristics were consistent with descriptions of Fusarium sp. DNA was extracted from the isolates SG66 and SG68 using the CTAB method. Nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (White et al. 1990), calmodulin (CAM), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2), and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1) gene (Xia et al. 2019) were amplified using generic primers, the products were sequenced, and the sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS, OP251362 and OP251363; CAM, OP266024 and OP266025; RPB2, OP266028 and OP266029; TEF1, OP266026 and OP266027). The isolates SG66 and SG68 clustered with Fusarium sulawesiense (85% bootstrap) (Maryani et al. 2019). The Fusarioid-ID database pairwise alignment of ITS (526 bp), CAM (534 bp), RPB2 (861 bp), and TEF1 (636 bp) sequences from the isolate SG66 showed 99.6% (98.9% coverage), 100% (100% coverage), 100% (100% coverage), and 100% (98.4% coverage) similarity with the corresponding sequences (GQ505730, LS479422, LS479855, and GQ505641, respectively) of the reference strains of F. sulawesiense (InaCC F940 and NRRL 34059). To perform the pathogenicity test, 10 μl of conidial suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml) was injected into 10 muskmelon fruits using a syringe, and 10 control fruits were inoculated with 10 μl of sterile distilled water. The test was repeated three times. After 7 days of incubation at 25°C, the pulp of all inoculated muskmelons began to rot, and the lesion expanded from the inside to the fruit surface at the injection site and became covered with white mycelia, whereas no symptoms developed on the control fruits. The fungus was successfully reisolated from infected tissues and confirmed as F. sulawesiense by morphological and phylogenetic analyses. F. sulawesiense has previously been reported on yellow melon (canary melon) in Brazil (Lima et al. 2021) and on a range of hosts, including Luffa aegyptiaca, in China (Wang et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of muskmelon fruit rot caused by F. sulawesiense in China.The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.References:Lima, E. N., et al. 2021. Plant Pathol. 70:133. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppa.13271 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarMaryani, N., et al. 2019. Persoonia 43:48. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2019.43.02 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarWang, M. M., et al. 2019. Persoonia 43:70. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2019.43.03 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarWhite, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Crossref, Google ScholarXia, J. W., et al. 2019. Persoonia 43:186. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2019.43.05 Crossref, ISI, Google ScholarFunding: This study was funded by Weifang Science and Technology Development Plan (2020GX062), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31900014), and Key Research and Development Plan of Shandong Province (2019GNC106119).The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.DetailsFiguresLiterature CitedRelated Vol. 107, No. 10 October 2023SubscribeISSN:0191-2917e-ISSN:1943-7692 Download Metrics Article History Issue Date: 1 Nov 2023Published: 20 Oct 2023First Look: 5 Jul 2023Accepted: 2 Jul 2023 Page: 3313 Information© 2023 The American Phytopathological SocietyFundingWeifang Science and Technology Development PlanGrant/Award Number: 2020GX062National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaGrant/Award Number: 31900014Key Research and Development Plan of Shandong ProvinceGrant/Award Number: 2019GNC106119Keywordsfruit rotFusarium sulawesiensemuskmelonThe author(s) declare no conflict of interest.PDF downloadCited byGenome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of the CmHAK Gene Family in Melon (Cucumis melo L.)16 October 2023 | Horticulturae, Vol. 9, No. 10