Isolation and pathogenicity of Colletotrichum spp. causing anthracnose of Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) in tropical islands of Andaman and Nicobar, India
This study identifies the Colletotrichum spp. which cause Morinda anthracnose in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. A survey of Indian mulberry plantations was carried out to ascertain the identity of isolates associated with Morinda anthracnose. These were identified as C. gloeosporioides based on morphology and sequencing analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, demonstrating that this species is currently the causal agent of Morinda anthracnose in a tropical ecosystem. The pathogenicity test of C. gloeosporioides isolates on Morinda seedlings for 1 month revealed that the five isolates MC1, MC8, MC2 (1), MC4 and MC12 were pathogenic to the respective host with different levels of anthracnose lesion.