Morphophysiological and molecular characterization of Cercospora spp. in Fragaria x ananassa Duch.

The strawberry crop (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) originated in Europe and has a wide geographical distribution. In Brazil, cultivation is predominant in the southern regions of the country. Foliar diseases are one of the main problems of the crop and are caused by fungal species of different genera. Recently, Cercospora spp. has been reported as a causal agent of cercosporiosis on strawberry leaves. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the pathogenicity and to morphophysiologically and molecularly characterize isolates of Cercospora spp. obtained from strawberry leaves. Pathogenicity was evaluated on detached leaves, morphophysiological characterization on different culture media, and molecular identification by the actin and elongation factor1-alpha regions. The morphological characteristics were similar to those found in species of the genus Cercospora. Cercosporiosis in strawberry is caused by a complex of species of the genus Cercospora, among them C. kikuchi.