Pine pitch canker, caused by Fusarium circinatum , is among the most destructive forest diseases worldwide, leading to growth suppression, wilting, and root disease in pine seedlings. Infections result in canker formation, contributing to significant losses in wood quality and yield in pine plantations. In South Africa, the sensitivity of F. circinatum to fungicides has not been investigated, representing a critical knowledge...

Elsinoe masingae is a recently described fungal pathogen causing Eucalyptus scab and shoot malformation in South African plantations. Here we present the draft genome sequence of the ex-holotype isolate (CMW 58888 = CMW-IA 1800). Illumina paired-end sequencing generated approximately 24.6 million reads, yielding a 24.8 Mb assembly comprising 176 scaffolds with an N50 of 0.47 Mb and a GC content of 51.04%. BUSCO analysis using...

The Eucalyptus plantation industry in Indonesia has expanded rapidly during the last few decades. This growth is primarily attributed to the replacement of Acacia mangium , that was severely damaged by diseases. The rapid shift to large-scale monoculture plantations of Eucalyptus has introduced new challenges, particularly the emergence of new disease and pest problems. During routine Eucalyptus disease surveys in Indonesia, s...

Seiridium is a genus of Sordariomycetes ( Amphisphaeriales , Sporocadaceae ), primarily known for species that cause cypress canker on Cupressaceae trees. However, most species in this genus have been reported from angiosperms, including many species in the native range of their hosts. Several unidentified Seiridium strains, collected > 20 years ago from Acacia mearnsii trees in eastern South Africa and southeastern Australia,...

Fungi in dairy pastures impact cattle health, yet the diversity of fungal species present in South African pastures remains understudied. Following an outbreak of Sporidesmin-Induced Liver Disease (SILD; caused by the mycotoxin sporidesmin produced by Pseudopithomyces toxicarius ) in the Eastern Cape in 2020, we collected mixed pasture samples from 14 dairy farms affected by this disease. Our aim was to investigate what fungal...

Purpose of Review This review offers a thorough examination of the pine pathogen Diplodia sapinea , tracing its historical significance from its initial impact on South African non-native Pinus plantations to its recent emergence as a major threat to forests, particularly in Europe. It also highlights recent findings regarding its taxonomic position, genetic studies, and shifts from being perceived as a wound-infecting pathoge...

Fungal biodiversity significantly influences ecosystem dynamics through various interactions with plants, ranging from pathogenic to mutually beneficial associations. This study explores the fungal diversity associated with an ornamental orchid genus Epidendrum that is widely propagated globally but native to northern South America. Root samples were collected from Epidendrum in diverse geographic locations: Brazil, Colombia,...

Mycoviruses pervade the fungal kingdom, yet their diversity within various fungal families and genera remains largely unexplored. In this study, 10 publicly available fungal transcriptomes from Ceratocystidaceae were analyzed for the presence of mycoviruses. Despite mycovirus associations being known in only four members of this family, our investigation unveiled the discovery of six novel mycoviruses. The majority of these my...

The African fungus Ceratocystis albifundus does not cause disease symptoms on its wide range of native woody hosts. However, on non-native Acacia mearnsii and orchard-grown Protea cynaroides , it represents an economically significant pathogen. Because previous studies exploring the biological fitness of C. albifundus were constrained by small sample sizes, we aimed to determine how commonly used measures of fitness (growth in...

A root disease in plantations of Pinus radiata and Pinus pinaster , where trees died in distinct patches, was present in the Western Cape province of South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. Phytophthora cinnamomi was initially believed to be the cause, but the disease was later ascribed to the insect-associated fungus Leptographium serpens , a fungal species residing in the Ophiostomatales. Doubt regarding the cause of the di...