Species diversity of microscopic fungi on Austrian pines growing in urban greenery of Nitra town

Abstract

During the year 2009, complex mycoflora of Austrian pine trees (Pinus nigra Arnold) was monitored within a survey on health state of trees growing in urban environment. Four species of microscopic fungi were isolated and identified from samples collected from different part of Nitra town during the study period. This study reports the occurrence of the fungi Camarosporium pini (Westend.) Sacc., Fusarium sp. and Mycosphaerella dearnessii M.E. Barr on needles and Sphaeropsis sapinea (Fr.) Dyko & B. Sutton on needles and cones of P. nigra. Disease symptoms, some important characteristics in pure culture and distinctive morphological features are described. The presence of these fungi in host tissue of symptomatic trees has been described using classical phytopathological approaches and microscopical identification based on morphological keys. Sphaeropsis sapinea was identified on pine needles and cones in all examined samples with high frequency. The occurrence of Fusarium and Camarosporium fungi was relatively common. Mycosphaerella dearnessii was found as a fungal pathogen with sporadical incidence, its presence was noticed only in two cases from the all examined samples.