AGGRESSIVENESS AND EXOENZIMES PRODUCTION OF Colletotrichum ISOLATES ON ORNAMENTAL TROPICAL PLANTS

Abstract

Anthracnose, generally caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, affects inflorescences quality in different species of ornamental tropical plants and it is one of the main fungal diseases to those crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate the aggressiveness and exoenzimes production on solid medium of  25 Colletotrichum isolates collected from anthurium, torch ginger, and heliconia plants with necrosis symptoms. The symptomatic floral stems were harvested in different counties of the Pernambuco State, Brazil, and carried to the laboratory, where the isolation process took place. The isolates were inoculated in the floral stems bracts of the three species studied, and the aggressiveness evaluated five days after inoculation. Isolates were also plated on specific culture media to determine amylolytic, lipolytic, and proteolytic activity, and assessed seven days after inoculation. The isolates aggressiveness was variable and some of them were not pathogenic when inoculated to their origin hosts. Six isolates were pathogenic to all the analyzed ornamental species and four isolates showed host specificity. All tested isolates presented amylolytic, lipolytic, and proteolytic activity. No relation between aggressiveness and enzyme activity was observed in the isolates tested.

KEY-WORDS: Anthurium andraeanum; Etlingera elatior; Heliconia spp.; variability.