Occurrence and Development of Colletotrichum Acutatum on Symptomless Blueberry

Bushes
Colletotrichum acutatum (Ca) is a reoccurring disease found on blueberry plants and bushes,
mainly in Japan. Ca has been found to survive in many instances, including the season of winter
and during different periods like the dormant period. Ca can be found in other plant species like
woody plants, almond trees, flower buds, and twigs. Scientists and researchers have tied
symptoms of leaf spots, shoot blight, and fruit rot to Ca. They also know the survival patterns of
Ca. The disease remains in the host and can survive in dead tissue on specimens. It comes back
when the plant blooms once more. The causes and way this fugus works are still being studied.
The scientists are attempting to understand how Colletotrichum Acutatum works. They want to
finds ways to prevent and one day eliminate it completely. Plants that are affected by Ca are not
safe to eat, so in order to have healthy safe blueberries scientists need to study Ca.
They studied when Ca occurred and examined the diversity between different bushes. They
tested the leaves of symptoms of Ca. They testing these bushes with different temperatures and
chemicals on the plant. They would wait months to see the resulting plants and how the Ca had
influenced them. The recorded the temperature and the quantity of the chemicals on each plant
and determined which combination reduced the appearance of Ca on the plants. During the third
experiment they extracted DNA from the plants to determine if the Ca altered the genetic
structure of the plants.
In the first study the following results were collected: The fungus was isolated from different
plants, but the fungus resided in specific parts of the plants that were diseased. There were
specific parts of the plants isolated from the fungus. The fungus was not isolated from sterilized
young leaves or flowers, but it was isolated from non-sterilized leaf and flower tissues. In the
second study the following results were collected: Two of the plants had different frequencies
from the rest. They were lower than those with symptomless tissues. It was also discovered that
each isolate created lesions of similar sizes within ten days for all. In the third study the
following results were collected: The three control isolates had different banding patterns from
the experimental bushes and seedlings. In the fourth study the following results were collected:
The lesion quantities and sizes for two of the different plants with frequency and banding also
had different lesion numbers from the other common isolates.

Works Cited
Yoshida, S., Tsukiboshi, T., Shinohara, H., Koitabashi, M., & Tsushima, S. (2007). Occurrence
and development of Colletotrichum acutatum on symptomless blueberry bushes. Plant
Pathology, 56(5), 871-877. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3059.2007.01645.x