Diversity of Botryosphaeriaceae and Species Associated with Postharvest Apple Fruit Decay in Serbia.

Family Botryosphaeriaceae and the genus (family Diaporthaceae) represent diverse groups of plant pathogens, which include causal agents of leaf spot, shoot blight, branch and stem cankers, dieback, and pre- and postharvest apple fruit decay. Apple fruit with symptoms of light to dark brown decay were collected during and after harvest from 2016 to 2018. Thirty selected isolates, on which pathogenicity was confirmed, were identified and characterized based on multilocus phylogeny and morphology. Five species from the family Botryosphaeriaceae and two from the genus (fam. Diaporthaceae) were discovered. The most commonly isolated was followed by . In this work, is described as a new postharvest pathogen of apple fruit. , , , and are initially described as postharvest apple and as postharvest quince and medlar fruit pathogens in Serbia. Because species of the family Botryosphaeriaceae and the genus are known to cause other diseases on their hosts, have an endophytic nature, and have a wide host range, findings from this study imply that they may become a new challenge for successful fruit production.