Dothistroma needle blight (DNB) is one of the most important pine needle diseases worldwide. The disease is caused by two fungal species, Dothistroma septosporum and D. pini, which are similar not only in terms of their ecology, causing similar symptoms in hosts of the genus Pinus, but also in terms of their morphological characteristics. The morphologies of 353 cultured Dothistroma isolates from 11 different pine species in Slovakia and their relation to Dothistroma species and/or fungus origin (host) were studied and evaluated by means of the Chi-square test. The cultures were classified into eight categories according to pigmentation. Dothistroma pini isolates were assigned to 4 of the 8 categories, and D. septosporum isolates were assigned to all 8 categories with varying frequencies. The Chi-square test revealed that the culture morphology categories of D. pini and D. septosporum differed significantly. Interactions between the evaluated factors (culture morphology, Dothistroma and host species) were analysed and showed significant differences.
Adamčíková K., Ondrušková E., Pažitný J., Jánošíková Z. (2021): Divergence in culture morphology between two related species, Dothistroma septosporum and D. pini. – Czech Mycology 73(1): 109–119.
