Author(s)

Donald Riascos, Ivonne Quiroga, Rafael Gómez, Lilliana Hoyos-Carvajal

Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Colombia.

The Scab of purple passion fruit or gulupa (Passiflora edulis Sims.) is a serious disease, affecting all aerial organs of the plant, but also to reducing the visual quality of the fruits, which reduces export production. To determine the primary causal agent of disease in Colombia, associated microorganisms were isolated from scab lesions on stems, leaves, flowers and fruits, recovering in PDA. Obtaining Cladosporium, Colletotrichum and Botrytis. Cladosporium had the highest frequency of fungal isolates. 15 strains were evaluated for their pathogenicity on fruits and leaves of gulupa in laboratory and greenhouse conditions. 9 strains caused symptom expression at 95% humidity and 17°C - 20°C, validating Cladosporium as causal agent of gulupa scab. For those pathogenic strains, were determinate incubation and latency periodsin leaves (7 - 11 and 8 - 12 DPI) and fruits (6 - 10 and 8 - 12 DPI) revealing differences or virulence levels in the pathogen populations.

Pathogenicity; Passiflora; Incubation; Latency

Riascos, D. , Quiroga, I. , Gómez, R. and Hoyos-Carvajal, L. (2012) Cladosporium: Causal agent of scab in purple passion fruit or gulupa (Passiflora edulis Sims.). Agricultural Sciences, 3, 299-305. doi: 10.4236/as.2012.32034.