Skip to main content
Log in

Testing of selected South African Pinus hybrids and families for tolerance to the pitch canker pathogen, Fusarium circinatum

  • Published:
New Forests Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Plantations of Pinus spp. constitute approximately 50% of the South African forestry industry. The first aim of this study was to develop a reliable inoculation technique to screen Pinus spp., for tolerance to infection by F. circinatum, which threatens pine forestry in South Africa. Inoculation of branches was compared with stem inoculations and we considered the number of branches or trees required to obtain statistically significant results. Furthermore, variation in the susceptibility of some Pinus families, clones and hybrids was considered. Results showed that branch inoculations were closely correlated with those from stem inoculations, and that it is important to consider branch and stem diameters when assessing susceptibility of trees. Subsequent trials using branch inoculations showed significant differences in F. circinatum tolerance amongst a range of pine species and hybrids of potential interest to forestry in South Africa. Significant differences in susceptibility were also found among clones of two P. radiata families. The most tolerant trees were P. elliottii × caribaea and P. patula  ×  oocarpa hybrids, while the most susceptible species were P. patula, P. greggii and hybrids of these two. This is the first trial considering the susceptibility of Pinus hybrids, Pinus clones and some P. patula provenances, and the results indicate excellent potential for breeding for tolerance to pitch canker in South Africa.

Application The accurate selection of disease tolerant planting stock for the South African forestry industry is crucially important for the continued sustainability of this important industry. The work described here provides valuable information on an artificial inoculation technique that will assist the industry in screening trees for tolerance to the pitch canker fungus, F. circinatum. It also provides some indication of the relative susceptibility of a number of Pinus spp., hybrids and families currently being evaluated in the country.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anonymous (2003) Forestry Facts. Forestry South Africa (FSA), Johannesburg. South Africa

  • Barnard EL, Blakeslee GM (1980) Pitch canker of slash pine seedlings: a new disease in forest tree nurseries. Plant Dis 64:695–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrows-Broaddus J, Dwinell LD (1985) Branch dieback and cone and seed infection caused by Fusarium moniliforme var. subglutinans in a loblolly pine seed orchard in South Carolina. Phytopathology 75:1104–1108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Britz H, Coutinho TA, Gordon TR, Wingfield MJ (2001) Characterisation of the pitch canker fungus, Fusarium circinatum, from Mexico. S Afr J Bot 67:609–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Britz H, Coutinho TA, Wingfield BD, Marasas WFO, Wingfield MJ (2005) Diversity and differentiation in two populations of Gibberella circinata in South Africa. Plant Pathol 54:46–52

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Correll JC, Gordon TR, McCain AH, Fox JW, Koehler CS, Wood DL, Schultz ME (1991) Pitch canker disease in California: pathogenicity, distribution and canker development in Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). Plant Dis 75:676–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Correll JC, Gordon TR, McCain AH (1992) Genetic diversity in California and Florida populations of the pitch canker fungus Fusarium subglutinans f. sp. pini. Phytopathology 82:415–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwinell LD, Phelps WR (1977) Pitch canker of slash pines in Florida. J For 75:488–489

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwinell LD, Ryan PL, Kuhlman EG (1977). Pitch canker of loblolly pine in seed orchards. Proceedings of the 14th Southern Forests Tree Improvement Conference, Gainesville, Florida

  • Dwinell LD, Barrows-Broaddus J (1979) Susceptibility of half-sib families of slash and loblolly pine to the pitch canker fungus, Fusarium moniliforme var. subglutinans. Phytopathology 69:527

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwinell LD, Barrows-Broaddus JB, Kuhlman EG (1985) Pitch canker: a disease complex. Plant Dis 69:270–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon TR, Wikler KR, Clark SL, Okamoto D, Storer AJ, Bonello P (1998a) Resistance to pitch canker disease, caused by Fusarium subglutinans f. sp. pini, in Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). Plant Pathol 47:706–711

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon TR, Storer AJ, Okamoto D, Wood DI (1998b) Susceptibility of five landscape pines to pitch canker, caused by Fusarium subglutinans f. sp. pini. Hortscience 33:868–871

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon TR, Storer AJ, Wood DL (2001) The pitch canker epidemic in California. Plant Dis 85:1128–1139

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepting GH, Roth ER (1946) Pitch canker, a new disease of southern pines. J For 44:742–744

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodge GR, Dvorak WS (2000) Differential response of Central American and Mexican pine species and Pinus radiata to infection by the pitch canker fungus. New For 19:241–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi T, Muramoto M (1989) Pitch canker of Pinus luchuensis, a new disease in Japanese forests. For Pest 38:169–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Landeras E, García P, Fernández Y, Braña M (2005) Outbreak of Pitch Canker Caused by Fusarium circinatum on Pinus spp. in Northern Spain. Plant Dis 89:1015

    Google Scholar 

  • McCain AH, Koehler CS, Tjosvold SA (1987) Pitch canker threatens California pines. Calif Agr 41:22–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Nirenberg HI, O’Donnell K (1998) New Fusarium species and combinations within the Gibberella fujikuroi complex. Mycologia 90:434–458

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriquez RG (1989) Pitch canker on Pinus douglasiana, pines indigenous to San Andres Milpillas, Municipal of Huajicori, Nay. Forest Parasitology Symposium, V. Summary, 28. City of Juarez, Chihuahua

  • SAS Institute Inc. (1999) SAS/STAT Users Guide Version 8, Cary NC. SAS Institute. ISBN 1-58025-494-2

  • Schmidt RA, Underhill EM (1974) Incidence and impact of pitch canker in slash pine plantations in Florida. Plant Dis Rep 58:451–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz ME, Gordon TR, McCain AH (1990) Resistance of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) to pitch canker disease caused by Fusarium subglutinans. Phytopathology 80:977

    Google Scholar 

  • Storer AJ, Gordon TR, Wood DL, Bonello P (1997) Pitch canker disease of Pines. Current and Future Impacts. J For 95:21–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Storer AJ, Gordon TR, Clark SL (1998) Association of the pitch canker fungus, Fusarium subglutinans f.sp. pini, with Montery pine seeds and seedlings in California. Plant Pathol 47:649–656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viljoen A, Wingfield MJ, Marasas WFO (1994) First report of Fusarium subglutinans f.sp. pini in South Africa. Plant Dis 78:309–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viljoen A, Wingfield MJ, Kemp GHJ, Marasas WFO (1995) Susceptibility of pines in South Africa to the pitch canker fungus Fusarium subglutinans f.sp. pini. Plant Pathol 44:877–882

    Google Scholar 

  • Viljoen A, Wingfield MJ, Marasas WFO, Coutinho TA (1997) Pitch canker of pines: a contemporary review. S Afr J Sci 93:411–413

    Google Scholar 

  • Wingfield MJ (2004) Diseases affecting exotic plantation species. In: Burley J, Evans J, Youngquist JA (eds) Encyclopedia of forest sciences, Vol. 2. Elsevier Academic Press, pp 816–822

  • Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD, Coutinho TA, Viljoen A, Britz H, Steenkamp ET (1999) Pitch canker: a South African perspective. In: Devey ME, Matheson AC, Gordon TR (eds) Current and potential impacts of pitch canker in radiata pine. Proceedings of the IMPACT Monterey Workshop, California, USA, 30 November–3 December (1998). CSIRO, Forestry and Forest Products, Kingston, Australia, pp 62–69

  • Wingfield MJ, Coutinho TA, Roux J, Wingfield BD (2002a) The future of exotic plantation forestry in the Tropics and Southern Hemisphere: lessons from pitch canker. S Afr For J 195:79–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Wingfield MJ, Jacobs A, Coutinho TA, Ahumada R, Wingfield BD (2002b) First report of the pitch canker fungus, Fusarium circinatum, on pines in Chile. Plant Pathol 51:397

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the members of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP), the National Research Foundation and the THRIP initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for financial support. The staff of SAFCOL and particularly Jacob Matroos, Pearl Oelf and Cecilia Bester are acknowledged for production of the cuttings, planting and maintenance of the trials used to develop the inoculation technique. Staff of Mondi Business Paper and Sappi Forests and particularly Andre van der Hoef and Noel Myburg are thanked for providing trees for inoculation. Students belonging to the TPCP team, University of Pretoria, are gratefully acknowledged for volunteering assistance with large numbers of inoculations and with the enumeration of results. Henriette Britz van Heerden is also thanked for selection of the isolate used in the inoculation studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Roux.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Roux, J., Eisenberg, B., Kanzler, A. et al. Testing of selected South African Pinus hybrids and families for tolerance to the pitch canker pathogen, Fusarium circinatum . New Forests 33, 109–123 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-006-9017-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-006-9017-4

Keywords

Navigation