Andrea Vannini

Tuscia University | Tuscia · Department of Innovation of Biological Systems, Food and Forestry DIBAF

Gnomoniopsis castanea has been reported as the causal agent of necrosis of chestnut wasp (Dryocosmus kuriphilus) galls. The fungus is frequently observed on galls in chestnut stands infested by the insect in Italy. In the present study the impact of gall necrosis and the dynamic of its development have been studied in mature and young Castanea sati...

The first genome assemblies of Gnomoniopsis castaneae (syn. G. smithogilvyi), the causal agent of chestnut brown rot of kernels, shoot blight and cankers, are provided here. Specifically, the complete genome of the Italian ex-type MUT401 isolate was compared to the draft genome of a second Italian isolate (GN01) and to the ICMP 14040 isolate from N...

Biscogniauxia mediterranea has long been recognized as the causal agent of charcoal canker disease of Quercus species. It has been considered to be highly involved in cork oak decline in the Mediterranean region. In this study, a collection of B. mediterranea strains was isolated from declining cork oak trees in three cork oak forests in Tunisia. A...

Ink disease of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) caused by the oomycetes Phytophthora cinnamomi and P. x cambivora is the limiting factor for chestnut cultivation in several European regions. The objective of this study was to explore how the spatial landscape heterogeneity affects the distribution pattern of ink disease over a large chestnut area i...

In the present study, the sentinel arboreta strategy was applied, and its efficacy was evaluated at the Atatürk Arboretum (Istanbul, Turkey), having as a study case the interaction Tubakia spp.—Quercus spp. Thirty-four oak species native of America and Eurasia were sampled within the Fagaceae collection of the arboretum. Isolation trials were condu...

Background The brown rot fungus Gnomoniopsis castanea is the main organisms responsible for the outbreak of chestnut postharvest decay that is posing at risk the sustainability of the chestnuts market in Europe. Currently, no specific strategy is available to mitigate the impact and remediate the high losses of fruits in postharvest storage. In the...

A novel real- time PCR assay based on the TaqMan probe was developed for the de-tection of Gnomoniopsis castaneae, causal agent of brown rot of chestnut kernels, and responsible for leaf necrosis, shoot blight and bark canker. A part of the pathogen life cycle is endophytic, colonizing all tissues of chestnut and additional hosts, which is suspecte...

Forty-six strains of Trichoderma spp. have been isolated from soils in different locations and ecosystems of Algeria. They were identified at species level by analysis of their Internal Transcribed Spacers regions 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) of rDNA and a partial sequence of the Translation Elongation Factor 1-alpha (TEF 1-α) gene. The 46 Trichoderma s...

Cork oak decline and mortality are increasingly prevalent in the Mediterranean basin. This require particular attention due to the great economic value of this plant species. Biscogniauxia mediterranea is one of the most common pathogens highly associated to cork oak decline. However, documentation on its incidence is still scarce, especially in Tu...

The number of alien species arriving within new regions has increased at unprecedented rates. Managing the pathways through which alien species arrive and spread is important to reduce the threat of biological invasions. Harmonising information on pathways across individual sectors and user groups is therefore critical to underpin policy and action...

In summer 2016 a severe infestation of the alien ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus compactus was recorded from the Mediterranean maquis in the Circeo National Park in Central Italy. Trees and shrubs were infested and displayed wilting and necrosis of terminal branches caused by the combined impact of the insect and associated pathogenic fungi. A prelimin...

Biscogniauxia mediterranea is a fungal pathogen attacking a wide range of hosts especially on the genus Quercus. In this work, three genetically diverse B. mediterranea isolates associated with Q. suber have been checked for their response to Trichoderma harzianum confrontation. Its antagonistic effect was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. The p...

en In the Circeo National Park (Italy), a survey assessed the occurrence of the ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus in addition to the conspecifics X. compactus and X. crassiusculus . This is the first report in Europe of the co‐presence of three Xylosandrus species, in an evergreen Mediterranean maquis dominated by holm oaks (Quercus ilex L.). Al...

Authors explored the potential use of Vis/NIR hyperspectral imaging (HSI) and Fourier-transform Near-Infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy to be used as in-line tools for the detection of unsound chestnut fruits (i.e. infected and/or infested) in comparison with the traditional sorting technique. For the intended purpose, a total of 720 raw fruits were co...

Crown decline and mortality associated with collar lesions were observed on Carya cathayensis (Chinese hickory) trees in a plantation in Zhejiang province, China. Examination of active lesions resulted in the isolation of a homothallic, papillate Phytophthora sp. Detailed morphological and physiological studies and phylogenetic analysis, using ITS,...

The diversity of the fungal community associated with adults of Dryocosmus kuriphilus following emergence was examined using HTS analysis. Ascomycota dominated the fungal core-biome community. The functional guilds of the 90 taxa forming the core-biome were assessed, demonstrating three main groups: saprotrophs, plant pathogens and entomopathogens....

Biscogniauxia mediterranea is a xylariaceous ascomycete responsible for ‘charcoal disease’, the most frequent disease of cork oak in the Mediterranean basin. However, little is known regarding this fungus in North Africa. This is the first report on the morphological and genetic diversity of B. mediterranea populations in Tunisia. A total of forty...

The number of invasive alien pest and pathogen species affecting ecosystem functioning, human health and economies has increased dramatically over the last decades. Discoveries of invasive pests and pathogens previously unknown to science or with unknown host associations yet damaging on novel hosts highlights the necessity of developing novel tool...

Forest decline is nowadays a major challenge for ecosystem sustainability. Dehesas, which consists of savannah-like mediterranean ecosystems, are threatened by the holm oak decline in the south-west of Iberian Peninsula. Phytophthora cinnamomi is considered the main agent of holm oak root rot, but little is known about the relationship between dive...

Fusarium circinatum is a highly virulent invasive pathogen that causes the disease commonly known as Pine Pitch Canker (PPC). On mature trees, the most common symptoms of PPC include resin bleeding, resinous cankers, wilting of needles and dieback. In nurseries the main symptoms are yellowish needles, and wilting of foliage and shoots. PPC is consi...

The number of alien plant pests and pathogens is rapidly increasing in many countries as a result of increasing trade, particularly the trade in living plants. Sentinel plantings in exporting countries to detect arthropod pests and agents of diseases prior to introduction provide information about the likelihood of introduction and the potential im...

The damping-off of Pinus radiata D.Don by Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg and O’Donnell represents a limiting factor in nursery production, while seed contamination with the pathogen is one of the main pathways of the pathogen movement between areas. Chemical and physical treatments have been applied with encouraging results and some limitations. In...

Starting from polluting waste, such as those produced by the olive oil industry, composting is able to produce stable organic materials that can be suggested as peat surrogate in the preparation of growth media for potted plants. In this work stable and mature olive mill waste compost (OMWC) was produced by using a simplified novel static compostin...

In the 2015–2016 growing seasons, two novel symptoms were assessed on the crown of trees in orchards and coppices of chestnut groves in Central Italy. The first symptom was flagging of annual shoots with green leaves undergoing sudden wilt and turning brown later in the season. The second symptom consisted of leaves on annual shoots turning yellow...

Surveys were conducted between November 2011 and December 2013 to determine the distribution and the incidence of citrus gummosis in Tunisia. Forty-two citrus orchards in three different citrus areas were surveyed. Symptoms of gummosis were observed in 59.52% of the orchards. The highest incidence was observed in the Cap Bon area. The involvement o...

Introduction of and invasion by alien plant pathogens represents the main cause of emerging infectious diseases affecting domesticated and wild plant species worldwide. The trade in living plants is the most common pathway of introduction. Many of the alien tree pathogens recently introduced into Europe were not previously included on any quarantin...

Fungal species used in phylogenetic analysis and accession number of ITS and GAPDH sequences. (DOCX)

Neighbour-joining trees based on ITS (A and C) and concatenated ITS and gdp (B) sequences of isolates of Diaporthe liquidambaris, Diaporthe capsici, Nothophoma quercina, Botryosphaeria dothidea and Alternaria alternata. Numbers above branches represent bootstrap support for the nodes and posterior probability based on Bayesian analysis of the datas...

Neighbour-joining trees of the 17 OTUs resolved at species level (known or putative new species), with the exception of the OTU82 (Fig 3). Each tree includes the OTU sequence and the ITS sequence of the top BLAST hits species (with GenBank accession numbers). Numbers above branches represent bootstrap support for the nodes and posterior probability...

This guide is intended as an aid for managers of sentinel plantings, botanical gardens or arboreta, as well as phytosanitary inspectors, who may have knowledge of common pests and diseases of woody plants, but may not know the likely cause of damage that they have not encountered before. It aims to provide a tentative identification of relatively b...

This guide is intended as an aid for managers of sentinel plantings, botanical gardens or arboreta, as well as phytosanitary inspectors, who may have knowledge of common pests and diseases of woody plants, but may not know the likely cause of damage that they have not encountered before. It aims to provide a tentative identification of relatively b...

This guide is intended as an aid for managers of sentinel plantings, botanical gardens or arboreta, as well as phytosanitary inspectors, who may have knowledge of common pests and diseases of woody plants, but may not know the likely cause of damage that they have not encountered before. It aims to provide a tentative identification of relatively b...

This guide is intended as an aid for managers of sentinel plantings, botanical gardens or arboreta, as well as phytosanitary inspectors, who may have knowledge of common pests and diseases of woody plants, but may not know the likely cause of damage that they have not encountered before. It aims to provide a tentative identification of relatively b...

According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, by 2020 invasive alien species (IAS) should be identified and their impacts assessed, so that species can be prioritized for implementation of appropriate control strategies and measures put in place to manage invasion pathways. For one quarter of the IAS listed as the “100 of the world's worst”...

Suppression of root rot diseases of ornamental plants is a potential benefit of formulating soilless container media with compost. A green compost (green nursery compost, GNC), obtained by a circular-economy approach from residues of pruning of woody plants and grass clippings during the nursery activities was analysed for its suppressiveness of ro...

In September 2016, a survey conducted in the Circeo National Park revealed an outbreak and serious damage caused by the black twig borer (Xylosandrus compactus) and its associated fungi in the Mediterranean maquis. Among the affected hosts, Quercus ilex, Viburnum tinus, Ruscus aculeatus, Pistacia lentiscus, Laurus nobilis and Ceratonia siliqua, sho...

Following recent discovery of . Phytophthora lateralis on native . Chamaecyparis obtusa in Taiwan, four phenotypically distinct lineages were discriminated: the Taiwan J (TWJ) and Taiwan K (TWK) in Taiwan, the Pacific Northwest (PNW) in North America and Europe and the UK in west Scotland. Across the four lineages, we analysed 88 isolates from mult...

The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) aims to facilitate the exploration of alien species information in Europe, and is recognized as the information system supporting European Union Member States in the implementation of the recently published Invasive Alien Species Regulation. In this paper, we present the role and activities of...

Phytophthora cambivora (Petri) Buisman is a widespread soil born oomycete causing root rot on several woody species. Together with P. cinnamomi,it is considered the most pathogenic species associated with chestnut ink disease all over Europe. Currently,no efficient control strategies are available for ink disease. Information about the population g...

An analysis of incidence of Phytophthora spp. in 732 European nurseries producing forest transplants, larger specimen trees, landscape plants and ornamentals, plus 2525 areas in which trees and shrubs were planted, is presented based on work conducted by 37 research groups in 23 European countries between 1972 and 2013. Forty-nine Phytophthora taxa...

Study of the Performances of Native and European Olive Varietes in Nepal , and Qualitative Analysis of Olive Oil (201%) - Project Technical assistance and support to line ministries in the agricultural sector with emphasis on olive production - Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan (AFNEPAK)

The efficacy of biofumigation with Brassica carinata pellets (BioFence) to control vegetative and reproductive structures of Phytophthora cinnamomi was investigated in vitro at different doses and temperatures. Biofumigation was effective in inhibiting mycelial growth (culture diameter) and chlamydospore and zoospore germination, and was lethal at...

Biscogniauxia nummularia is a xylariaceous fungus known as a common endophyte of European beech, living in plant tissues without development of symptoms, or even inducing strip-cankers and wood decay on trees stressed by drought. We studied the presence of the fungus in apparently healthy beech trees, growing in two different bioclimatic zones char...

Recent disease outbreaks caused by alien invasive pathogens into European forests posed a serious threat to forest sustainability with relevant environmental and economic effects. Many of the alien tree pathogens recently introduced into Europe were not previously included on any quarantine lists, thus they were not subject to phytosanitary inspect...

of existing alien species information and to assist the implementation of European policies on biological invasions. At the core of EASIN, there is an inventory of all known alien and cryptogenic species in Europe (the EASIN Catalogue, herein published), which includes relevant information, such as taxonomic classification, pathways of introduction...

Phytophthora lateralis, the cause of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana root disease, was introduced in North America about 1950, and has since killed trees along roads and streams throughout the tree’s range. Recent results suggest an Asian origin for this Oomycete and four genetic lineages were identified. This raised questions for the genetic exapted resi...

This study was performed to isolate and characterize Trichoderma species from the rhizosphere of holm oak, olive and lavender in a nursery to select effective antagonistic and growth-promoting agents and use them to amend nursery plant growth substrates. Among the isolated Trichoderma species, three from olive (T. asperellum T2, T. hamatum T3, and...

Phytophthora lateralis, the cause of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana root disease, was introduced in North America about 1920, and has since killed trees along roads and streams throughout the tree’s range. Recent results suggest an Asian origin for this oomycete and four genetic lineages were identified. This raised questions for the genetic exapted resi...

Project Report 2011-2014 - Technical assistance and support to line ministries in the agricultural sector with emphasis on olive production - Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan (AFNEPAK)

This study provides a novel qRT-PCR protocol for specific detection and proof of viability of Phytophthora in environmental samples based on differential accumulation of cox II transcripts. Chemical and physical treatments were tested for their ability to induce in vitro the accumulation of cytochrome oxidase genes encoding subunits II (cox II) tra...

During 2009, a fungus belonging to the genus Gnomoniopsis was found associated with the necrosis of galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus, the chestnut gall wasp. The common observation of this phenomenon in chestnut orchards prompted us to evaluate the utilization of the fungus for biological control of gall wasp. During 2011, experiments were conducted...

An increasing decline and mortality of cork oak trees have been recently observed in central Italy and Sardinia Island. Following surveys conducted in three declining cork oak forests, a Phytophthora species was consistently isolated from soil samples collected from trees displaying different level of decline. Based on morphological features, growt...

This chapter provides an overview of the Botrytis cinerea disease cycle on grape, and the conditions inducing ‘bunch rot’ or ‘noble rot’ development. The complex factors governing host—parasite—environment interactions and the degree of susceptibility of grape to B. cinerea are described. In particular, the process of noble rot and the site, climat...

Pyrosequencing analysis was performed on soils from Italian chestnut groves to evaluate the diversity of the resident Phytophthora community. Sequences analysed with a custom-database discriminated 15 pathogenic Phytophthoras including species common to chestnut soils, while a total of 9 species were detected with baiting. The two sites studied dif...

Since its first isolation from Salix roots in 1972, isolates of a sexually sterile Phytophthora species have been obtained frequently from wet or riparian habitats worldwide and have also been isolated from roots of Alnus and Prunus spp. Although originally assigned to Phytophthora gonapodyides on morphological grounds, it was recognized that these...

This book begins with an account of the early history of Phytophthora research and the tumultuous events setting the genus in motion. In keeping with its controversial inception, the chapter on taxonomy and phylogeny makes a compelling case that our current notion of Phytophthora as a genus is illusory. This chapter sets the stage for the importanc...