Characterization of Eutypa lata and Cytospora pistaciae causing dieback and canker of pistachio in Italy

During the winter of 2017, dieback and canker symptoms were observed on pistachio (Pistacia vera) in two orchards in the Bronte area, Catania Province, Sicily, Southern Italy. Two different fungi were consistently isolated from infected tissues. Morphological observations and multi-locus phylogenies using five genomic loci (ITS, act, rpb2, tef1 and tub2) identified these fungi as Cytospora pistaciae and Eutypa lata. Pathogenicity tests on 5-y-old potted plants of P. vera grafted on terebinth (P. terebinthus) reproduced similar symptoms as those observed in nature, and Koch’s postulates were fulfilled for these two pathogens. This study is the first to report dieback and canker diseases of pistachio caused by C. pistaciae and E. lata in Italy