The Native Hymenoscyphus albidus and the Invasive Hymenoscyphus fraxineus Are Similar in Their Necrotrophic Growth Phase in Ash Leaves.

ABSTRACT: The populations of European ash and its harmless fungal associate Hymenoscyphus albidus are in decline owing to ash dieback caused by the invasive Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, a fungus that in its native range in Asia is a harmless leaf endophyte of local ash species. To clarify the behavior of H. albidus and its spatial and temporal niche overlap with the invasive relative, we used light microscopy, fungal species-specific qPCR assays, and PacBio long-read amplicon sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region to examine fungal growth and species composition in attached leaves of European ash. The plant material was collected from a healthy stand in central Norway, where ash saplings in late autumn showed leaflet vein necrosis like that commonly related to H. fraxineus.

SUBMITTER: Hietala AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9196304 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature