Latent infection of Austrian and Scots pine tissues by Sphaeropsis sapinea

This study documents latent infection of Austrian and Scots pine tissues by Sphaeropsis sapinea, the causal agent of Sphaeropsis tip blight disease. S ymptomless shoots from diseased or apparently healthy Austrian and Scots pi ne trees were cultured and analyzed for the presence of S. sapinea. Nearly half of the sampled Austrian and Scots pine trees that appeared to be compl etely healthy had detectable latent S. sapinea infections. More than half o f the symptomless shoots on visibly diseased Austrian and Scots pine trees were also latently infected with S. sapinea. S. sapinea was isolated from s ymptomless shoot stems, needles, buds, immature cones, and male flowers. In symptomless infected shoots, the fungus was primarily associated with the bark and phloem tissues. Six isolates of S. sapinea from symptomless Austri an and Scots pine shoot tissues were pathogenic on Austrian pine seedlings in the greenhouse. The presence of S. sapinea in symptomless tissues of tip blight-diseased trees has important implications for disease management.