Phlyctema vagabunda Isolated from Coin Canker of Ash Trees in Michigan

The coelomycetous fungus Phlyctema vagabunda Desm. (teleomorph Neofabraea alba (E.J. Guthrie) Verkley, synonym Pezicula alba E.J. Guthrie) is associated with a serious canker disease of cultivated ash trees in Michigan. Four- to five-year-old trees of Fraxinus americana cv. Autumn Purple and F. pennsylvanica cvs. Champ Tree, Cimmaron, and Urbanite had cankers that were smooth, round, brownish yellow, approximately 2 to 4 cm in diameter with distinct reddish, cracked margins. Immersed, eventually erumpent, unilocular acervuli developed in the central portions of these cankers. The same fungus was isolated both from the conidia as well as from the margin of the canker. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (AY064704) and beta-tubulin (AY064702) sequences were identical to sequences identified in GenBank as Pezicula alba from apple (1), and the morphology was consistent with Phlyctema vagabunda as well (2). P. vagabunda has been studied primarily as the cause of Bull's eye canker of apple (1). P. vagabunda under its numerous synonyms has been reported on various hardwood and herbaceous hosts from temperate regions around the world, including the United States. However, it has not been reported previously on species of Fraxinus. A specimen and culture from the ash cankers in Michigan have been deposited (BPI 841384 and CBS 109875). References: (1) S. N. De Jong et al. Mycol. Res. 105:658, 2001. (2) B. C. Sutton. The Coelomycetes. CMI, Kew, Surrey, UK, 1980.