Chalara fraxinea found on Fraxinus angustifolia
In Austria, Fraxinus angustifolia trees planted along the river March (also called Morava) near Hohenau an der March (Niederösterreich) have been severely affected by dieback and mortality. Symptoms included shoot and twig dieback, necrotic lesions and cankers in the bark, as well as discolouration of the wood. In 2008, Chalara fraxinea (EPPO Alert List) was consistently isolated from small necrotic lesions on shoots of diseased F. angustifolia saplings in this area and from diseased seedlings from a nursery near Kapuvár in North-Western Hungary. In spring 2009, the fungus was also commonly detected on affected F. angustifolia seedlings in a nursery in Niederösterreich. Inoculation studies confirmed that F. angustifolia can be a host of C. fraxinea. This is the first time that C. fraxinea is reported on a host other than F. excelsior. It is also noted that the detection of C. fraxinea in forest nurseries suggests that diseased plants for planting are an important pathway for accelerating the spread of this emerging pathogen.
Sources
Kirisits T, Matlakova M, Mottinger-Kroupa S, Halmschlager E, Lakatos F (2010) Chalara fraxinea associated with dieback of narrow-leafed ash (Fraxinus angustifolia). Plant Pathology 59(2), p 411.