sdu faculty of forestry journal special edition 2009 - Orman Fakültesi

SDÜ Faculty of Forestry Journal
understand the penetration capacity of the fungus to the healthy tissue. Also in the
present study more realistic results of the virulence of the isolates could have been
obtained by spraying the seedlings with conidial suspensions.
Virulence of S. sapinea s.l. isolates on pine varies depending on several factors,
such as ecological and climatic conditions, season, species of the fungus and where
the experiment takes place (Swart and Wingfield, 1991; Blodgett and Stanosz,
1997). It is also known that S. sapinea s.l. is able to live without typical symptoms
in its latent phase (Stanosz et al., 1997; Flowers et al., 2001; 2003; Stanosz et al.,
2005; Maresi et al., 2007). In that sense, it is important to have knowledge about
the latent infections in nurseries and forest stands. D. scrobiculata was not found in
the area where the isolates used in the present experiment were collected. As the
isolates of D. pinea were directly obtained from pycnidia located on diseased
shoots, instead of isolating from host tissues, only the frequently fruiting species
could be found. Since the asymptomatic persistence of the fungal species in the
host tissues is important for their wide distribution, a study focusing in latent
infections is needed to shed light on the Diplodia-species composition on the local
tree species and their infection potential.
5-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was founded by Süleyman Demirel University Scientific Projects
Unit (1325-06) and Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry State Planning
Organisation (DPT 2003- K- 121020 /7). We are also very grateful to Glen Stanosz
and Denise Smith for their help in molecular identification of isolates of S. sapinea
sensu lato, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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