Distinguishing characteristics and vegetative compatibility of Colletotrichum kahawe in comparison with other related species from coffee

On the basis of pathogenicity tests on green berries or hypocotyls of coffee and by morphological and biochemical characteristics in culture, 31 isolates of Colletotrichum were classified into C. kahawe (24 isolates), C. gloeosporioides (six isolates) or C. acutatum (one isolate). Within these groups of isolates, vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) were determined by complementation tests with mutants in the nitrate assimilation pathway. There were distinct incompatibility barriers between the three species. Among the C. gloeosporioides group, the three isolates tested were self-compatible but incompatible with each other. Within C. kahawe, 18 isolates were self-compatible and only one main VCG was detected. However, partial compatibility in C. kahawe was also indicated by variation in the intensity of heterokaryon formation between different pairs of isolates and between different types of mutant. The existence of only one VCG in C. kahawe is consistent with the low level of variation found in previous work on DNA polymorphism.