First report of Ceratocystis platani in Turkey
Ceratocystis platani (EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time from Turkey. The presence of the fungus was confirmed in 2016 at several locations in the European side of Istanbul causing severe dieback and tree mortality on Platanus x acerifolia and Platanus orientalis. Although dieback and mortality of plane trees in Istanbul had been briefly reported in 2011, the causal agent was not fully characterised at that time. In August 2016, a survey was carried out on a total of 976 living and dead plane trees (P. x acerifolia and P. orientalis) in 2 parks and 3 main streets in Central Istanbul. In this area, tree mortality had been observed since the early 2010s. Trees were visually inspected and wood samples were collected from 50 trees. Results of the laboratory analysis (morphological, molecular and pathogenicity tests) confirmed the presence of C. platani. In the surveyed area, the disease was observed in Taksim Gezi Park, Yıldız Park, Cumhuriyet, Çırağan and Dolmabahçe streets. It was particularly severe on street trees, including some which were more than 160 years old. The overall proportion of symptomatic trees was approximately 32%, and 55 out of the 976 inspected trees were dead (5.6%). Symptomatic and dead trees often occurred in single rows or in close proximity to each other. Among Platanus species, proportions of symptomatic trees were similar (27.5% for P. orientalis and 26.3% for P. x acerifolia) but mortality was higher on P. orientalis.
The situation of Ceratocystis platani in Turkey can be described as follows: Present, only in some areas (several sites in the European part of Istanbul).
Sources
Lehtijärvi A, Oskay F, Doğmuş Lehtijärvi HT, Aday Kaya AG, Pecori F, Santini A, Woodward S (2017) Ceratocystis platani is killing plane trees in Istanbul (Turkey). Forest Pathology 48, e12375. https://doi.org/10.1111/efp.12375