First report of Phaeophleospora destructans in China

Eucalypts are highly favoured plantation species as they are fast growing and easy to cultivate. The timber is an important source of fibre to the international pulp and paper industry. Plantation forestry in China is rapidly expanding, and now exceeds more than 1.3 million ha, mostly Eucalyptus urophylla, E. grandis and their hybrids (Minsheng 2003, Qi 2003). A number of foliar plant pathogens have been reported to impact on yields in plantations of eucalypt species in tropical Asia including Mycosphaerella spp., Phaeophleospora spp., Cryptosporiopsis spp. and Cylindrocladium spp. (Old et al. 2003b, Barber 2004). In this study we report, for the first time, the presence of Phaeophleospora destructans in China. Six Phaeophleospora species are known to cause disease on eucalypts; P. delegatensis, P. lilianiae, P. epicoccoides, P. eucalypti and P. destructans and the newly described P. toledana (Crous 1998, Crous et al. 2004). Of these, P. delegatensis, P. lilianiae and P. toledana are limited in their distribution, while P. epicoccoides, P. eucalypti and P. destructans are considered major eucalypt pathogens (Wingfield et al. 1996, Park et al. 2000, Hood et al. 2002).