Species identification of blackcurrant anthracnose agent Colletotrichum floriniae Marcelino & Gouli

A first Russian isolate of the anthracnose fruit rot-causing Colletotrichum fungus was obtained from blackcur rant of Moscow and Bryansk regions. In the Bryansk Region, Colletotrichum sp. was isolated from berries of ten blackcur­ rant varieties, including Bagira, Mriya, Mriya-5, Selechenskaya, Litvinovskaya, Nadina, Nara, Yadrenaya, Sofievskaya and Ben Hopen. The Colletotrichum genus fungi were observed on Sadko and Bryanskiy Agat blackcurrants in the Moscow Region and on Dobrynya and Yadrenaya — at the Timiryazev Academy station in Moscow. Colletotrichum species endure mainly on mummified persistent blackcurrant berries in a viable form for over two years. Saprotrophic yeast-like fungiof the genera Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula largely compound the blackcurrant-infesting micromycete flora, aside to the hyphomycete Auerobasidium pullans and related genera Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria and Cladosporium. Some of these fungi are antagonistic to suppress the Colletotrichum genus fungi. A standard PCR sequencing was employed for the species identification of two Colletotrichum isolates from Bryansk and Moscow regions. Both isolates were found to represent the same species Colletotrichum fioriniae Marcelino & Gouli.