Teratosphaeria gauchensis associated with trunk, stem and foliar lesions of Eucalyptus globulus in Portugal

Teratosphaeria gauchensis and T.zuluensis both cause a stem canker of eucalypts that leads to serious damage in various parts of the world. Until recently, this disease was unknown in Portugal. Nevertheless, severe damage to Eucalyptus globulus has been observed in Portugal since 2006 when symptoms appeared as necrotic spots on young green stems and leaves, twig lesions, and dark oval-shaped lesions on stems and trunks. The isolates from affected E.globulus tree plantations were identified using sequence data of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and EF-1 clusters, together with morphological characteristics. Based on these results, the causal organism was identified as T. gauchensis, which represents the first report of this pathogen from Portugal.