Occurrence of fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr on oak trees in the Carpathian-basin

Abstract

"Chestnut blight" caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr is the most important disease of Castanea spp. in Europe. In the 20-th century, this serious disease caused serious damage to chestnut populations throughout the world, including the Carpathian-basin. Towards the end of the last century, typical blight symptoms were observed on oak trees in several other European countries as well, and the fungus was also detected on some young Quercus petrea trees in Hungary. We studied the manifestation of C. parasitica on oaks, in several regions across the Carpathian-basin. Our examinations confirmed that the blight fungus has infected several oak trees in Romania and in Hungary, and potentially it could be a serious disease agent for the oak species.