Vol. 65 No. 1 (2026)
Articles

First report of Fusarium clavum and Fusarium venenatum causing leaf spots on Magnolia grandiflora

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  • Michele NARDUZZI,
  • Carlo BREGANT,
  • Anna Maria VETTRAINO
Michele NARDUZZI
Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF), University of Tuscia, Viterbo 01100, Italy
Carlo BREGANT
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Padova 35020, Italy
Anna Maria VETTRAINO
Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF), University of Tuscia, Viterbo 01100, Italy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/phyto-17048
Categories

Published 2026-05-14

Keywords

  • Emerging disease,
  • Nectriaceae,
  • urban trees

How to Cite

[1]
M. NARDUZZI, C. BREGANT, and A. M. VETTRAINO, “First report of Fusarium clavum and Fusarium venenatum causing leaf spots on Magnolia grandiflora”, Phytopathol. Mediterr., vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 185–189, May 2026.

Copyright (c) 2026 Michele NARDUZZI, Carlo BREGANT, Anna Maria VETTRAINO

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Magnolia grandiflora is an important ornamental tree in urban areas. In 2025, leaf spot symptoms were observed on M. grandiflora leaves in Viterbo, Italy. The causal agents were isolated and identified through morphological characterization and multilocus phylogenetic analysis of EF1-α, RPB1 and RPB2 gene sequences, and were identified as Fusarium venenatum and F. clavum. Pathogenicity tests on healthy M. grandiflora leaves produced characteristic brown leaf spots within 3 d post-inoculation. Re-isolations of the inoculated fungi confirmed Koch’s postulates. This study demonstrated that F. venenatum and F. clavum caused the leaf spot symptoms on Magnolia, and is the first report of this disease in Italy. These results provide the basis for developing targeted disease management strategies for emerging diseases caused by these fungi in urban areas.

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