Identification of the causal agent of brown rot in fruits of peach trees (Prunus pérsica, L. Batsch) in Boyacá

Abstract

The most limiting fungal disease in peach crop (Prunus pérsica, L. Batsch) in Colombia is brown rot, Monilia spp., that affects flowers, buds and fruits,  with economic losses of up to 80%.   The objective of this work was to identify the pathogen associated with the brown rot in four varieties:  Dorado, Rubidoux, Diamante and Rey Negro in Boyacá department. The study started collecting symptomatic fruits in Jenesano, Paipa, Tuta, Sotaquirá and Nuevo Colón. In laboratory were obtained, isolated and purified the fungi present. Also morphological characterization of colonies and conidia were done on monosporic cultures and molecular characterization through PCR amplification of the ribosomal DNA using ITS4 and ITS5 primers. It were obtained 32 isolates of Monilia and three species were identified in the sampled area: Monilia fructícola, Monilia fructígena and Monilia laxa, in a 62.5%, 25% and 12.5%, respectively. In the amplification of the ribosomal region, differences could be observed between the first two species, in the size of the amplified bases, being M. fructicola of 550 bp and M. fructigena of 545 bp. This work contributes to the characterization of the Monilia species that affect the peach tree in several regions of Boyaca’s department.