Caracterização e identificação de espécies de Colletotrichum associadas à antracnose do pimentão (Capsicum annuum) no Brasil

Characterization and identification of Colletotrichum species associated to anthracnose in pepper (Capsicum annuum) in Brazil In several countries, anthracnose is one of the most serious diseases in pepper. C. gloeosporioides has, for many years, been reported as the causal agent of anthracnose in Brazil. C. acutatum and C. capsici have only recently been reported as agents of anthracnose in some regions of the country. In this study, 56 isolates of Colletotrichum obtained from pepper from different areas of the country were characterized and identified based on the morphological characteristics of the conidia, as well as culture characteristics and PCR analysis with species-specific pairs of primers. Isolates representative of each identified species in the sampled population were also characterized according to their pathogenicity in pepper fruits (unripe, ripe, wounded and nonwounded) and also according to their sensitivity to fungicide (azoxystrobin, carbendazim, thiabendazole, tebuconazole, captan, chlorothalonil and benzalkonium chloride). The results have showed that C. acutatum is the most prevalent species found in the main production areas of pepper, present in about 72% of the sampled population. C. capsici was equivalent to 14% of the sampled population and found in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. C. gloeosporioides was present in only 5% of the samples and it was restricted to the state of São Paulo and Distrito Federal. Only one isolate of C. coccodes was found in Rio Grande do Sul. Besides theses species, isolates of C. boninense were found in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, with an occurrence of 7% in the sampled population. This seems to be the first report of C. boninense infecting pepper in Brazil and other parts of the world. The pathogenic characterization showed that representative isolates of all species were pathogenic in ripe, wounded, or nonwounded fruits. In wounded green fruit, only isolates of C. acutatum and C. capsici caused infection resulting in disease symptoms. No disease symptoms were observed in green nonwounded fruits inoculated with all Colletotrichum isolates, after 12 days of inoculation. C. acutatum was the most aggressive species with the shortest periods of latency and the highest rate of sporulation in either green wounded fruits or ripe fruits (wounded and nonwounded). Isolates of different species of Colletotrichum showed different sensitivity to the systemic fungicides evaluated. The isolates of C. acutatum were more sensitive to azoxystrobin, whereas C. gloeosporioides showed the lowest sensitivity to this fungicide. C. gloeosporioides and C. boninense isolates were the most sensitive to benzimidazoles fungicides (carbendazim and thiabendazole), whereas C. coccodes isolates showed the lowest sensitivity to these fungicides. The tebuconazol fungicide exerted the highest effect on mycelial growth for all Colletotrichum species. C. capsici showed to be less sensitive to this fungicide. The results of this work have shown the presence of at least five species of Colletotrichum responsible for anthracnose in pepper in Brazil and have made evident the importance of the differences between these species, which must be taken into account for the control of the disease.