Pathogen isolation and identification of a leaf disease of red sandalwood（ Pterocarpus santalinus） seedlings

In the introduction and propagation of red sandalwood（ Pterocarpus santalinus），we found a serious leaf disease of its seedlings in winter and spring seasons，but the name of the disease and its pathogen species have not been reported. The pathogen isolated from infected leaves of 18-month-old seedlings was identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides by morphological characteristics of colony and conidium，and analysis results of rDNA- internal transcribed spacer sequence（ ITS） of the strain. Pathogenicity test results further confirmed that C. gloeosporioides was the pathogen responsible for the infected leaves symptoms of red sandalwood，however，the disease belongs to an atypical anthracnose. Control of the leaf diseases of red sandalwood seedlings was discussed.