Occurrence of Anthracnose on Indian Fig Cactus Caused by Glomerella cingulata and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

Anthracnose symptoms were frequently found on stems of Indian fig cactus in Cheju island of Korea in 1998 and 1999. Typical symptoms were gray to black dry rot of stems with concentric arrays of dot-like spots. A Glomerella sp. or a Colletotrichum sp. was frequently isolated from the symptoms, both of which were identified as Glomerella cingulata and its anamorph, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides based on their morphological and cultural characteristics. Out of 31 isolates obtained from the symptoms, 12 isolates were the anamorph producing only conidia, four isolates the telemorph producing only ascospores, and 15 isolates the holomorph producing both spores on potato dextrose agar. Stem rots similar to the original anthracnose symptoms were induced by wound inoculation of conidia and ascospores but not by non-wound inoculation. The anamorphic isolates caused more extensive stem rot than the telemorphic and holomorphic ones.