The aim of this review was to survey all fungal pathologists with an association with the journal Molecular Plant Pathology and ask them to nominate which fungal pathogens they would place in a 'Top 10' based on scientific/economic importance. The survey generated 495 votes from the international community, and resulted in the generation of a Top 10 fungal plant pathogen list for Molecular Plant Pathology. The Top 10 list includes, in rank order, (1) Magnaporthe oryzae; (2) Botrytis cinerea; (3) Puccinia spp.; (4) Fusarium graminearum; (5) Fusarium oxysporum; (6) Blumeria graminis; (7) Mycosphaerella graminicola; (8) Colletotrichum spp.; (9) Ustilago maydis; (10) Melampsora lini, with honourable mentions for fungi just missing out on the Top 10, including Phakopsora pachyrhizi and Rhizoctonia solani. This article presents a short resumé of each fungus in the Top 10 list and its importance, with the intent of initiating discussion and debate amongst the plant mycology community, as well as laying down a bench-mark. It will be interesting to see in future years how perceptions change and what fungi will comprise any future Top 10.© 2012 THE AUTHORS. MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY © 2012 BSPP AND BLACKWELL PUBLISHING LTD.

\n An oligonucleotide primer (\n Ca\n Int 2) was synthesized from the variable internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from\n Colletotrichum acutatum\n. PCR with primers\n Ca\n Int2 and ITS4 (from a conserved sequence of the rDNA) amplified a 490 bp fragment from several isolates of\n C. acutatum\n but not from other members of the genus\n Colletotrichum\n. Amplification of this fragment was achieved from 100 fg of fungal DNA. These primers amplified a fragment of the same size from DNA extracted from strawberry tissues infected by\n C. acutatum\n. Southern hybridization analysis confirmed the 490 bp fragment from\n C. acutatum\n DNA and infected strawberry to be identical. The species‐specific primer (\n Ca\n Int2) developed in this work could be used for the accurate identification of\n C. acutatum\n and its detection on other host plants.\n

亚洲炭疽菌(Colletotrichum asianum)是一种能引发芒果炭疽病的优势病原菌。为建立一种能快速诊断该病原菌所引起的芒果炭疽病的PCR检测方法,本研究通过比较不同种类炭疽菌的全基因组DNA序列,获得了1条C. asianum特异性序列,设计并筛选得到1对特异性引物:caf1(5'-CCGTCAGACGGAATTATCAGC-3')和car1(5'-CCGATCCTGTCTTTGAAATGG-3')。结果表明,引物caf1/car1可以从C. asianum中扩增出长度为419 bp的特异性目标条带,灵敏度可达到1 pg·μL^-1。利用该引物能够从人工接种C. asianum YN55-1的芒果叶片以及田间发生炭疽病的芒果叶片样品中快速稳定地检测出长度为419 bp的目标条带。本研究建立的特异性PCR检测方法为C. asianum导致的芒果炭疽病的田间监测和快速诊断提供了技术支持。

The anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum species is an important disease that primarily causes fruit rot in pepper. Eighty-eight strains representing seven species of Colletotrichum were obtained from rotten pepper fruits in Sichuan Province, China, and characterized according to morphology and the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) sequence. Fifty-two strains were chosen for identification by phylogenetic analyses of multi-locus sequences, including the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the β-tubulin (TUB2), actin (ACT), calmodulin (CAL) and GAPDH genes. Based on the combined datasets, the 88 strains were identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. siamense, C. fructicola, C. truncatum, C. scovillei, and C. brevisporum, and one new species was detected, described as Colletotrichum sichuanensis. Notably, C. siamense and C. scovillei were recorded for the first time as the causes of anthracnose in peppers in China. In addition, with the exception of C. truncatum, this is the first report of all of the other Colletotrichum species studied in pepper from Sichuan. The fungal species were all non-host-specific, as the isolates were able to infect not only Capsicum spp. but also Pyrus pyrifolia in pathogenicity tests. These findings suggest that the fungal species associated with anthracnose in pepper may inoculate other hosts as initial inoculum.