Fate of mycelial and conidial propagules of Ilyonectria and Dactylonectria species in soil

Black foot disease of grapevines causes significant economic loss to the viticulture industry worldwide. A novel method was developed to investigate the fate of propagules of three species associated with black foot disease in New Zealand, Dactylonectria macrodidyma, Ilyonectria europaea and I. liriodendri, in soil. Conidia or mycelium of one isolate each of the three species were buried in soil in nylon mesh bags, and conidia/chlamydospore numbers were determined microscopically after 2 and 3 weeks. Conidia and chlamydospores were produced by mycelial inocula of all isolates, with greater numbers of chlamydospores after 3 weeks. Conidial inocula of all isolates also produced chlamydospores. Chlamydospores were formed at either the terminus or side of a hypha, and single and multiple conidia formed chlamydospores by combining their cellular protoplasm. Chlamydospores were produced from conidia, and conidia from mycelium faster for the I. europaea isolate than the D. macrodidyma and I. liriodendri isolates. The rapid formation of chlamydospores as survival propagules will facilitate the ability of these pathogens to persist in soil in the absence of a host