Ecology and Epidemiology Variation in Rates of Spore Deposition of Fusarium circinatum, the Causal Agent of Pine Pitch Canker, Over a 12-Month-Period at Two Locations in Northern California

Garbelotto, M., Smith, T., and Schweigkofler, W. 2008. Variation of spore dispersal of Fusarium circinatum, the causal agent of pine pitch canker, over a 12-month-period at two locations in Northern California. Phyto-pathology 98:137-143. Patterns of spore deposition by Fusarium circinatum, the causal agent of pine pitch canker (PPC) of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) and other conifers, were studied between May 2003 and April 2004 at two sites in Northern California using a novel spore trapping method combined with a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach. At each study site, two plots were sampled by placing spore traps at 100 m intervals along transects 600 m in length. The air was sampled continuously by exchang-ing the spore traps every 2 weeks. The spore deposition rate (DR), ranged from 0 to 1.3 × 105 spores m–2. Spores were detected throughout the year, with higher trapping frequencies (TF) during the rainy season (Novembe