Molecular Differentiation of Colletotrichum spp. Associated with Tropical Fruit Anthracnose

This work was devoted to collecting Colletotrichum isolates associated with anthracnose in different symptomatic tropical fruits in the post-harvest phase, and to identify pathogenic species through the species-specific PCR technique, by analyzing the ITS region sequence rDNA, aiming to determine if the lesions caused in the fruits were associated to one or more species of the genus Colletotrichum. A total of 39 isolates were analyzed and all presented morphological characteristics of the genus Colletotrichum, being 33 classified as C. gloeosporioides, 5 as C. boninense and 1 as C. acutatum. Among the plant species analyzed, parasitism in guavas and passion fruit of both C. gloeosporioides and C. boninense was observed. The three species (C. gloeosporioides, C. acutatum and C. boninense) were verified only in avocado, a fact never reported in the state of Maranhao. Thus, it is concluded that the differentiation of Colletotrichum species through the ITS region of the rDNA of the isolates is possible from the use of the protocol used and that there is diversity of phytoparasites, belonging to the genus, favored by the climatic characteristics of the region studied.