Abstract

CEDENO, Luis  and  CARRERO, Chrystian. Antracnosis en plántulas de macadamia causada por glomerella cingulata. INCI [online]. 2002, vol.27, n.10, pp.559-562. ISSN 0378-1844.

Macadamia nuts are considered as the best and finest table nuts in the world. They do not contain cholesterol and their levels of sodium and saturated fats levels are very low. Macadamia’s natural oils contain 80% of monounsaturated fats, the highest of any known oil. Several Macadamia species (Proteaceae) produce edible nuts, but only M. integrifolia and M. tetraphylla, are commercially important. Since its introduction in Venezuela the crop has been affected by diverse factors, one of them being a foliar disease that in 2001 destroyed many seedlings at nurseries located in different zones of the Mérida State. Diseased leaves showed dark brown colored blotches of dry dead tissues at the apex, and along the borders. Some leaves were completely affected and dead, whereas others only presented dispersed small dark brown spots. The identity of the microorganism causing these symptoms was investigated. Results showed that it is a Glomerella cingulata teleomorph of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides pathogen widely known in tropical and sub-tropical areas, where it attacks diverse fruit crops. On potato-dextrose agar medium, the fungus formed conidiomata and ascomata, and when inoculated it only infected young leaves of M. integrifolia. This is the first report of G. cingulata infecting macadamia seedlings in Venezuela.

Keywords : Antracnosis ; Colletotrichum gloeosporioides ; Glomerella cingulata ; Macadamia spp .