Colletotrichum gloeosporioides associated with anthracnose symptoms on citrus, a new report for Tunisia

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causing anthracnose disease of citrus is reported for the first time in Tunisia. Since early 2009, wither-tip symptoms of twigs, resembling disease caused by anthracnose were observed on cultivated citrus trees in Tunisia. Cultural and morphological features of the identified causal agent were consistent and resembled those described for C. gloeosporioides. These results were confirmed by sequencing of the internal spacer rDNA (ITS), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), glutamine synthetase (GS) and the ApMat locus regions and by multilocus phylogenetic analyses. Pathogenicity tests revealed that C. gloeosporioides isolated from withered twigs caused typical anthracnose symptoms on citrus fruits and leaves.