Occurrence of Colletotrichum Stem Rot Caused by Glomerella cingulata on Graft-Cactus in Korea

In 1999 and 2000, a rot of graft-cacti including Hylocereus trigonus (three-angled cactus), Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, and Chamaecereus silvestrii occurred in several greenhouses in major cactus-growing areas of Korea. Typical symptoms included a moist, light brown rot or a watery rot of the stems. A Colletotrichum sp. was isolated from the lesions. The fungus formed dark gray, dense or floccose colonies on potato dextrose agar, frequently forming many light pink acervuli often surrounded with setae. The hyaline, cylindrical conidia were one-celled with round ends. Appressoria were mostly semicircular or clavate. Thin-walled asci contained eight, one-celled, hyaline ascospores (biseriate in ascus). Ascopspores were strainht or curved, ellipsoidal or subcylindrical. Based on these characteristics, the fungus was identified as Glomerlla cingulata (anamorph : C. gloeosporioides). Wound inoculation of basal stems of the cactus by the mycelial plugs or conidia produced symptoms identical to those described above. Various cactus species were compared in susceptibility using stem disc inoculation. Cereus tetragonus, Eriocereus jusbertii, Myrtillocactus geomentrizans, and three-angled cacti from Mexico and Taiwan were susceptible, but C. peruvianus (Peruvian apple cactus) and Harrisia tortuosa not. This is the first report of G. cingulata causing stem rot of graft-cactus in Korea.