Black root rot of cucurbits caused by Phomopsis sclerotioides in Japan and phylogenetic grouping of the pathogen

Although the causal agent of black root rot of Cucurbitaceae in Japan has been proposed as Phomopsis sclerotioides, the species identification of the pathogen has remained inconclusive because of a lack of spore formation. We confirmed that a Japanese isolate of Phomopsis sp. obtained from a diseased pumpkin root produced pycnidia containing α spores in sterilized bean pods. In phylogenetic analyses of rDNA-ITS regions, nine Japanese Phomopsis sp. isolates from melon, watermelon grafted onto bottle gourd, and pumpkin diagnosed with black root rot, formed a single clade with P. sclerotioides standard isolates. We identified the causal agent of the black root rot of melon, pumpkin, bottle gourd, and watermelon in Japan as P. sclerotioides and propose the Japanese name “Phomopsis-negusare-byo” for the disease. Patterns of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) of these Japanese isolates were also similar to those of P. sclerotioides, thus supporting the species identification. However, mycelial incompatibilities were found for many combinations among these P. sclerotioides isolates, suggesting some genotypic variations of this fungus in Japan at a level that the RAPD analyses cannot discriminate.