Archivio Journal of Plant Pathology

Abstract:

In 2005-2007, vineyards affected by esca disease were surveyed in the provinces of Alicante and Valencia (south-east of Spain). The presence of resupinate, hymenochaetaceous basidiocarps was observed on the trunks of vines that displayed typical esca symptoms as well as in apparently healthy plants. Vines showing fruiting bodies represented 40% of the total esca-diseased plants and were randomly distributed in the several vineyards surveyed. Using classical and molecular identification methods, the fungus producing the observed basidiocarps was recognized as Inonotus hispidus, whose pathogenicity was tested by in vitro inoculation of healthy vines with fresh inoculum of six different isolates. Although I. hispidus has been previously reported from Vitis spp., to our knowledge this is the first record of the presence of its fruiting bodies on esca-diseased vines in Spain.