Pitch Canker Disease of Pines

Pitch canker, caused by Fusarium circinatum, is a disease affecting pines in many locations throughout the world. The pathosystem was originally described in the southeastern (SE) United States and was identified in California in 1986. Limited vegetative compatibility group (VCG) diversity in the California population of F. circinatum, relative to the SE United States, suggests the former is a recently established and clonally propagating population. Although the much greater VCG diversity found in the SE United States is suggestive of out-crossing, molecular markers indicate that many vegetatively incompatible isolates are clonally related. This implies that VCG diversity may derive, at least in part, from somatic mutations rather than sexual reproduction. Pitch canker is damaging to many pine species and one at particular risk is Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), which is widely grown in plantations and is highly susceptible to pitch canker. However, some Monterey pines are resistant to pitch canker and some severely diseased trees have been observed to recover. The absence of new infections on these trees reflects the operation of systemic induced resistance, apparently in response to repeated infection by the pitch canker pathogen.