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RESEARCH ARTICLE

The role of Monosporascus cannonballus in melon collapse in Iran

A. Sarpeleh
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- Author Affiliations

Plant Disease Research Department, Plant Protection Research Institute, Evin 19395-1454, Tehran, Iran. Email: asarpeleh@yahoo.com

Australasian Plant Disease Notes 3(1) 162-164 https://doi.org/10.1071/DN08063
Submitted: 17 September 2008  Accepted: 10 November 2008   Published: 27 November 2008

Abstract

Melon collapse is an economically important disease worldwide, induced by several soilborne plant pathogens including Monosporascus cannonballus. A disease with symptoms similar to melon collapse has been observed in hot and arid regions of Iran. However, no pathogen has been yet reported to be associated with this disease. In this study, M. cannonballus was isolated for the first time from melon plants grown in Iran. Pathogenicity testing of the isolates demonstrated that M. cannonballus is one of the causes of melon collapse in Iran.


Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Jafar Ershad for his help in the identification of fungal isolates and Dr Asghar Heydari for review of the manuscript.


References


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