Fruit stain of Japanese pear [Pyrus pyrifolia] caused by basidiomycetous, yeast-like fungi, Acaromyces ingoldii and Meira sp

In recent years, a fruit stain symptom accompanied by fusty smell has occurred on mature fruit of Japanese pear cvs. Nijisseiki and Gold Nijisseiki in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. Basidiomycetous, yeast-like fungi were isolated from the surface of diseased fruit, as were filamentous fungi already known to cause fruit stain problems. Among these, two species of basidiomycetous, yeast-like fungi were proven to cause fruit stain on immature fruit of Japanese pear cv. Gold Nijisseiki. Based on morphological and physiological characteristics and sequence data of D1/D2 domains of 26S rDNA and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions including 5.8S rDNA, these yeast-like fungi were identified as Acaromyces ingoldii and Meira sp.. Because Alternaria sp.,Hyalodendron sp., Phomapsis sp. and Stenella sp. have already been recorded as causes of Japanese pear fruit stain, we add these yeast-like fungi as causes of fruit stain of Japanese pear. We also correctly identified Hyalodendron sp., which was previously reported as a cause of Japanese fruit stain, as A.ingoldii, based on morphological observations and nucleotide sequence data.