{"title":"Pathogenicity, Aggressiveness, and Fig Cultivar Susceptibility to Alternaria alternata and Bipolaris sorokiniana as Twig Dieback Pathogens on Fig Trees","authors":"Hamed Negahban, Zeinab Bolboli, Hossein Masigol, Reza Mostowfizadeh-Ghalamfarsa","doi":"10.1111/jph.70325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jph.70325","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Branch dieback symptoms are becoming increasingly common in fig (<i>Ficus carica</i> L.) orchards throughout southern Iran, the country's primary fig-producing region. During surveys of commercial orchards, fungal isolates from <i>Alternaria</i> spp. and <i>Bipolaris</i> spp. were obtained from symptomatic branches of the economically significant ‘Sabz’ cultivar. Through morphological characterization and phylogenetic analyses based on the translation elongation factor 1-α (<i>tef1</i>), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (<i>gapdh</i>), and major allergen alt a 1 (<i>Alta1</i>) genes, for <i>Alternaria alternata</i> isolates, and the <i>tef1</i> gene for <i>B. sorokiniana</i> isolates, these fungi were identified to species level. Pathogenicity tests on detached shoots demonstrated that all isolates caused brown lesions and wood discoloration, with notable differences in aggressiveness. Principal component analysis (PCA) of aggressiveness data divided the <i>A. alternata</i> isolates into four distinct groups. Isolates from symptomatic trees in Ij, Fars Province, were significantly more aggressive than those from other areas. Pathogenicity assays revealed that both fungal species produced necrotic lesions on fig buds, leaves, and 1-year-old saplings. <i>A. alternata</i> consistently resulted in more severe symptoms than <i>B. sorokiniana</i>. Additionally, in greenhouse trials on saplings, both conidial suspensions and mycelial plugs confirmed pathogenicity, with the mycelial plug method generally leading to more extensive lesion development. Furthermore, fig cultivars showed varying susceptibility, as PCA and heatmap clustering based on six pathogenicity traits grouped the cultivars into three categories, identifying ‘Gilasi’ as the most susceptible and ‘Matti’ as the most resistant. Under the conditions tested, the findings of this study support the involvement of <i>A. alternata</i> and <i>B. sorokiniana</i> as pathogens contributing to branch dieback and discoloration of wood and inner bark tissues in fig trees from southern Iran. These findings establish <i>A. alternata</i> and <i>B. sorokiniana</i> as emerging threats to fig production in Iran and underscore the importance of incorporating resistant cultivars, such as ‘Matti’, into future disease management strategies.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148167019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148092034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148092032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148092033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148085365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148085367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148085366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148084124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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{"title":"","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16843,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Phytopathology","volume":"174 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148083159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}