English
First Report of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum fructicola on Yoshino Cherry in Korea
Ye Dam Kang1, Hyeon Min Seo1, Hyun Soo Park2, Sun Choi1, Gyoung Hee Kim1,2*
1Department of Agricultural Life Science, Sunchon National University, Suncheon, Republic of Korea
2Department of Plant Medicine, Sunchon National University, Suncheon, Republic of Korea
*Email: ghkim@scnu.ac.kr
Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum species is a common disease of woody plants, often leading to leaf necrosis and premature defoliation. In August 2025, anthracnose symptoms were observed on Yoshino cherry (Prunus × yedoensis Matsum.) at a steelworks site in Gwangyang, Jeonnam Province, Korea. Disease incidence was approximately 20–30%, and affected leaves showed dark, sunken necrotic lesions on petioles and leaf blades. Infection of petioles frequently resulted in chlorosis followed by premature defoliation. Fungal isolates obtained from symptomatic tissues were cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA), where colonies produced cottony mycelia with gray aerial hyphae and pale orange conidial masses. Conidia were hyaline, smooth, and fusiform to cylindrical, measuring 5.8–10.9 × 1.8–4.5 μm (n = 100). Appressoria were brown, ovoid to irregular in shape, measuring 5.2–10.2 × 4.0–8.8 μm. These morphological characteristics were consistent with Colletotrichum fructicola. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, TUB2, ACT, CAL, CHS, ApMat, and GAPDH gene sequences confirmed the isolate as C. fructicola. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by inoculating leaves, shoots, and fruits with a conidial suspension (4.5 × 10⁶ conidia/mL). Typical symptoms developed within 4 days after inoculation, and the pathogen was re-isolated, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. This is the first report of anthracnose caused by C. fructicola on Prunus × yedoensis in Korea.
