Phytosanitary problems in elephant garlic ( Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense ) in the “Val di Chiana” area (Central Italy), and evaluation of potential control strategies

Summary. Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense (elephant garlic) is traditionally cultivated in “Val di Chiana”, an area between Umbria and Tuscany regions of Central Italy, under the name “Aglione della Valdichiana”. This product has recently increased in importance, becoming a key economic resource for local farmers. In 2019, phy-tosanitary problems of elephant garlic cloves ready for transplanting emerged in this cultivation area. Symptom/sign observations and fungal isolations were performed for cloves divided into four components (tunic, basal plate, reserve tissue and shoot) from six farms in the “Val di Chiana” area. Isolates obtained were identified, using partial β-tubulin ( BenA ) and calmodulin ( CaM ) or translation elongation factor 1α ( tef1α ) genes sequences, as belonging to Penicillium [ P. allii (95%), P. citrinum (4%), P. brevi-compactum (1%)] or Fusarium [ F. oxysporum (81%), F. proliferatum (19%)]. Fusarium spp. were mainly associated with clove tunics and basal plates, while Penicillium spp. with basal plates, reserve tissues and shoots. Fungi often also developed from asymptomatic components, but a correlation was found between isolated pathogens and disease symptoms. Pathogenicity and virulence towards elephant garlic cloves were verified for a representative isolate of each identified species, and Penicillium allii was the most virulent. Strategies to control Fusarium and Penicillium spp. on cloves were assessed, including chemicals, a biocontrol agent, surface sterilization and heat treat-ment. Among these, treatments with Patriot Gold® (active ingredient [a.i.] Trichoderma asperellum TV1, approved in organic farming on crops similar to elephant garlic), or Signum® (a.i. boscalid + pyraclostrobin, approved for Integrated Pest Management systems on crops similar to elephant garlic), were effective in simultaneous reduction of Penicillium spp. and Fusarium spp. Transplanting of asymptomatic cloves combined with the use of the above treatments showed promising effects for pathogens control, and to assist elephant garlic crop establishment.


PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE
Mimesis bresentz itself to us as the foundation of processes of socialisation, civilisation and the construction of thought.It appears as a decisive instance capable of rendering an account of modes and formsssss in which our collective life is historically realised, but also of all of those actions, practices, and symbolic-cognitive strategies through which the processes of the elaboration and intersubjective organisation of sense are always and again renewed 1 .Thus mimesis is to be understood as an original principle capable of in some way rendering an account, in historical-anthropological terms, of the very genesis of culture, as well as of the various modes of its effective transmission, reception, and dissemination.From this point of view, mimesis can be understood as a partial exemption (Entlastung).
1 Prompted by feelings anxiety in the face of the reality.

PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE
Mimesis bresentz itself to us as the foundation of processes of socialisation, civilisation and the construction of thought.It appears as a decisive instance capable of rendering an account of modes and formsssss in which our collective life is historically realised, but also of all of those actions, practices, and symbolic-cognitive strategies through which the processes of the elaboration and intersubjective organisation of sense are always and again renewed 1 .Thus mimesis is to be understood as an original principle capable of in some way rendering an account, in historical-anthropological terms, of the very genesis of culture, as well as of the various modes of its effective transmission, reception, and dissemination.From this point of view, mimesis can be understood as a partial exemption (Entlastung).
1 Prompted by feelings anxiety in the face of the reality.

Figure S1 .
Figure S1.Fusarium spp.and Penicillium spp.isolated from the four different components (tunic, basal plate, reserve tissue and shoot) of elephant garlic cloves of each of the six samples analyzed.Columns represent the average of the number of isolates on potato dextrose agar from the four different selected components of 20 cloves per sample.

Figure S2 .
Figure S2.Average number of isolates (n) per elephant garlic sample and analyzed components belonging to the diff erent Fusarium species/ subclades (a) and Penicillium species (b).Th e identifi cation was performed by partial translation elongation factor 1α sequencing for Fusarium and by β-tubulin (BenA) and calmodulin (CaM) genes sequencing for Penicillium.Columns represent the Fusarium (a) and Penicillium (b) community composition per each sample and component expressed as the average number of isolates of diff erent species developed from each elephant garlic sample and component.

Table S1 .
Primer sequences, products sizes and annealing temperatures used in PCR assays for the identification of Fusarium and Penicillium isolates developed from elephant garlic cloves.

Table S2 .
Fusarium spp.isolates used in the phylogenetic analysis and related GenBank accession numbers.
c isolate obtained in Serbia by Ignjatov et al. (2017); d isolate obtained in Spain by Castaño et al. (2014); e isolates reported in Brankovics et al. (2017); f isolate reported in Pozzebon Venturini et al. (2018); g isolate obtained in Italy by Gilardi et al. (2019); h isolates from the Warwich Crop Centre, University of Warwick, UK; CBS: Culture collection of the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Utrecht, the Netherlands; STE_U: fungal culture collection of the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; NRRL: Mycological collection of the National Regional Research Laboratory, Peoria, IL, USA; F: isolate obtained from the present study and deposited in the fungal culture collection of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy; Bold type, GenBank accession number of this isolate.F.Tini, G. Beccari, N. Terzaroli, E. Berna, L. Covarelli, M.