First report of the occurrence of Pestalotiopsis sp. on blueberry in Bulgaria – morphology and pathogenicity - (short communication)

The cultivation of blueberry (Vaccinium sp.) in Bulgaria has increased recent years, but the knowledge its diseases is almost nonexistent. During monitoring for sanitary status crops Southern (Plovdiv region), symptoms stem cancer, twigs necrotic lesions, leaf spots and low vigour were observed on 3-year-old Duke cv. Four isolates obtained from damaged stems leaves single-spored. recognized as Pestalotiopsis sp. according to cultural characteristics fungal colony (colony color presence fruiting bodies) morphological conidia (color, length, width, number size apical basal appendages). In a controlled experiment, representative isolate was pathogenic Based pathogenicity, this study first report associated with cancer blueberries Bulgaria.