Lasiodiplodia iranensis is the causal agent of Coffea canephora dieback in Brazil

In July 2019, samples of plagiotropic and orthotropic branches of C. canephora with symptoms of dieback were collected in Santa Tereza, Espírito Santo state, Brazil, a major coffee growing region in the country. At the time, the cause of the symptoms was unknown. This study aimed to determine the cause of the observed symptoms based on multilocus phylogeny, morphology, and colony characterization. The causal agent was identified as Lasiodiplodia iranensis. This pathogen has been reported to cause disease in several economically important crops in South America, including cashew and mango. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of L. iranensis causing dieback on C. canephora worldwide.