Identification of Cryphonectria cubensis from Colombia based on rDNA sequence data : research in action

Cryphonectria cubensis is a pathogen of Eucalyptus trees in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The fungus causes a disease known as Cryphonectria canker, which ultimately results in the death of trees. Isolates of C. cubensis are usually identified using a combination of morphological and molecular characters, such as ascospore morphology and ITS (internal transcribed spacer) ribosomal DNA sequence data. Using these techniques, the fungus has been identified from Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa, Indonesia, Australia and several other countries. In this study, we investigated isolates of C. cubensis from Colombia and report for the first time the presence of C. cubensis west of the Andes in South America.