TY - EJOU AU - Ding, Xiaolei AU - Zhao, Ruiwen AU - Lin, Sixi AU - Ye, Jianren TI - Morphological and Phylogenetic Resolution of Diplodia neojuniperi Emerging Diplodia Top Dieback of Pinus thunbergii Parl. in China T2 - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany PY - 2022 VL - 91 IS - 12 SN - 1851-5657 AB - In Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, China, top dieback symptoms were found on many pine trees (Pinus thunbergii Parl). The tips of old needles first turned grayish-green and then developed into brown bands in the field. Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated ITS and EF1-α indicated the pathogen of this dieback disease as Diplodia neojuniperi. Additionally, effects of temperature, pH and medium on the mycelial growth were also characterized. The most favorable temperature and pH level for mycelial growth are 25°C and 8, respectively. The optimal medium for mycelial growth is PDA medium. To our knowledge, this is the first report of D. neojuniperi causes Diplodia top dieback on Pinus thunbergii. Our results provide fundamental information for monitoring and preventing such disease in the future. KW - Dieback; Koch’s postulates; Diplodia neojuniperi; phylogenetic analysis DO - 10.32604/phyton.2022.024609