Isolation and Identification of Leaf Blight Pathogen from Camellia oleifera

Leaf blight of Camellia oleifera was one of the major diseases in Hunan´s Camellia producing areas. The fungal pathogen infected leaves of the host plants and caused leaves drop, resulting in earlier defoliation and new treetops death. Filamentous fungal strain (No. CSUFT070160A) was isolated from the leaves of Camellia oleifera with the leaf blight disease. We observed morphological characteristics and analyzed the sequences of rDNA ITS from the strain, and concluded that the rDNA ITS of the strain was 516bp. By comparing with sequences in the GeneBank, the strain CSUFT070160A have the highest homologous to Pestalotiopsis microspora, more than 99%.The molecule phylogenetic tree indicated that the CSUFT070160A and the DQ000995 wre in the same branch with high confidence level. And combined with morphological characteristics we can confirmed that the CSUFT070160A strain belonged to Pestalotiopsis microspora. The research results lay a foundation for preventing and control the pathogens of Camellia oleifera leaf blight.