One thought on “Colletotrichum fioriniae (Marcelino & Gouli) Pennycook 2017 Anthracnose Fruit and Crown Rot of Strawberry”

1. In May 2021, the Ventura Co. agricultural officials, working with strawberry growers in their county, submitted 15 strawberry samples to CDFA’s lab at Meadowview. CDFA Plant Pathologist Albre Brown made isolations from the roots and crowns with symptoms of anthracnose. Isolates all were confirmed to be C. fioriniae using a combination of morphological and molecular analyses. Since the first pest rating proposal was written by CDFA Plant Pathologist John Chitambar for C. fioriniae in spring 2019, additional official samples of C. fioriniae have been identified on Umbellularia californica from Alameda County and on Fragaria vesca from San Francisco County.
   Knowing what species are present and established in California is critical for the exclusion of invasive pests and biologically sound regulatory decisions. Anthracnose disease of strawberries has been reported in California for over than 30 years (E. E. Butler, 1987). Initially the causal agent, which was identified solely using morphological methods, was identified as Colletotrichum acutatum. Since then, C. acutatum has been described as a species complex and morphological features alone are not considered comprehensive enough to distinguish isolates inside the complex. Consequently, an additional multigenetic analysis is necessary for species level identifications. Colletotrichum fioriniae is a constituent of the C. acutatum complex, indistinguishable morphologically from C. acutatum. Thus, it is possible that C. fioriniae is the pathogen that E. E. Butler observed.
   Recent detections confirm that C. fioriniae is an established species causing anthracnose in California. I concur with Dr. Broome that the post entry distribution and survey information section should now score as High (-3) and that C. fioriniae should be downrated from a B to a C.

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