Morphological, Physiological, Ecological, and Pathological Comparisons ofPhytophthoraSpecies Isolated fromTheobroma cacao

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Phytophthora citrophthora was isolated from black pods and trunk cankers on cocoa trees. Isolates of P. citrophthora from cocoa were compared with P. palmivora and P. capsici from cocoa and P. citrophthora from citrus with respect to colony morphology, sporangium production, sporangial stalk lengths, compatibilty types, and pathogenicity to cocoa and citrus. After 8 wk of growth in soil artificially infested with chlamydospores of P. palmivora and P. citrophthora or oospores of P. capsici, 100, 93, and 40% of cocoa seedlings were infected with P. palmivora, P. citrophthora, and P. capsici, respectively. Mortality at 8 wk was 67, 53, and 0% for seedlings infected with P. palmivora, P. citrophthora, and P. capsici, respectively. Single isolates of all three species produced homothallic oospores in inoculated cocoa pod tissue after a minimum of 5 wk.