Characterization and Identification of the Basidiomycetous Fungus Associated with 'hoya de malvón' Grapevine Disease in Argentina

Abstract

Inocutis jamaicensis (Murrill) Gottlieb, J.E. Wright & Moncalvo was identified as the basidiomycetous species associated with ‘hoja de malvón’ grapevine disease in Argentina. Macro and micro-morphological characteristics of fruit bodies corresponded to those described for the white-rotting fungus associated with native plant species and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. planted in Uruguay. Monokariotic isolates were obtained from basidiospores produced by fruit bodies of I. jamaicensis collected from Vitis vinifera L. and E. globulus. Dikaryons and fruit bodies produced by pairing monokaryotic mycelium suggest that all these isolates belong to the same species. The analysis of RFLP of the dikaryon produced by pairing monokaryons derived from V. vinifera and E. globulus revealed fragments that corresponded to each monokaryon, confirming that isolates from Vitis mated with those from Eucalyptus. In order to compare grapevine and Uruguayan isolates, RFLPs from ITS region generated by restriction digestion with Alu I, Hae III, Hha I, Msp I and Taq I were performed. Differences found in some restriction pattern could reflect a certain degree of variability between dikariotic isolates, probably related with a particular lifestyle, host specificity or geographic origin.