New microfungi records on pistachio ( Pistacia vera L . ) from Gaziantep province of Turkey

Pistacia L. belongs to the family of Anacardiaceae. It contains nine species and five subspecies. P. vera L. (cultivated pistachio) is the economically most important species in the genus. It has edible seeds and considerable commercial importance. Iran, the United States, Turkey and Syria are the main pistachio producers in the world. Gaziantep province is the main producer and exporter of pistachio in Turkey. Samples of leaves, branches and fruits of pistachio (P. vera L.) were collected between 2009 and 2010 from different localities in Gaziantep province. Cytospora sarothamni Sacc., Phoma pulchella (Berk. and Broome) Sacc. and Steganosporium irregulare Lambotte and Fautrey are new records for Turkish mycobiota. For the first time in literature, Bispora antennata (Pers.) E.W. Mason, Coniothecium complanatum Nees (Sacc.) and Rosellinia pulveracea (Ehrh.) Fuckel were found on P. vera L., and P. vera L. is now defined as a new host plant for these three species.


INTRODUCTION
The research area (Figure 1), Gaziantep, is situated in south-east Anatolia of Turkey and it is bordered by Şanlıurfa to the east, Osmaniye to the west, Kahramanmaras to the north, Kilis to the south, Hatay to the south-west and Adiyaman to the north-east.Latitude: 37°04˝ north Longitude: 37°22˝ east, Altitude: 850 m.
Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is the only edible crop in the genus Pistacia.P. vera L. has been cultivated since the Hittites at Anatolian region.Presently, the pistachio industry comprises over 37.408 hectares and produces an annual crop valued at over $ 4 million.However, very little is known about the microfungi associated with P. vera L.. The identification of the fungal biota of P. vera L. is necesssary to learn their potential benefical or dentrimental effects on this host.The present paper reports three new species for Turkish mycobiota and three fungi species on new host (on P. vera L).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Infected host samples were collected between 2009 and 2010.In *Corresponding author.E-mail: hakgul@gantep.edu.tr.Tel: +90 (531) 4212672.total, 780 pistachio samples were collected from Araban, Karkamis, Nizip, Oguzeli, Sehitkamil and Yavuzeli districts (Gaziantep province).The fungal specimens were isolated from the plant material either by scraping, or obtaining with a razor at thin sections.Two types of microscope (Leica light microscope and Olympus stereo microscope) were used in the identification of microfungi.These were identified using the relevant literature (Ellis and Ellis, 1987;Frolov, 1967;Saccardo 1972;Shvartsman et al., 1975;Yachevsky, 1917).After the identification of the fungi, the specimens were deposited in the herbarium of Gaziantep University.The author abbreviations of fungi were checked using Kirk et al. (2008) 37°56'53''E, 398 m, 30.06.2010, DY 4000.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.A map of Turkey, with a grid system, and the study area.
Michailides et al. (1994)de Bary) G. Arnaud and A. niger Tiegh. in pistachio production areas in east-Mediterranean and southeast Anatolian regions of Turkey.Michailides et al. (1994)gave a list of fungal diseases of pistachio (P.vera L.) reported in California: Verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb.; Botrytis blossom and shoot blight caused by Botrytis cinerea Pers.; Alternata late blight caused by Alternaria alternata Keissl.; Botryosphaeria panicle and shoot blight caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea (Moug.)Ces. and De Not.; Armillaria root rot caused by Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P. Kumm.; Schizophyllum wood decay caused by Schizophyllum commune Fr.; Sclerotinia shoot blight caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary; Phomopsis shoot blight caused by Phomopsis sp.; Powdery mildew caused by an unidentified species of powdery mildew fungus and Septoria leaf and fruit spot caused by Septoria pistaciae Desm. in California or Septoria pistaciarum Caracc. in Arizona.Yildizbas (2006) recorded C. complanatum on Quercus robur L. subspecies robur and Erdogdu (2008) reported B. antennata on Ficus carica L. subspecies carica from Turkey.Selcuk and Huseyin, (2010) found R. pulveracea on Sorbus aucuparia L. from Turkey.As a result of this study, C. sarothamni, P. pulchella and S. irregulare are new records for Turkish mycobiota.For the first time in literature, B. antennata, C. complanatum and R. pulveracea are found on P. vera L.; and P. vera L. is now defined as a new host plant for these three species.