Fusarium merismoides var. chlamydosporale

[SMAdams]

Is anyone familiar with Fusarium merismoides (possibly var. chlamydosporale) on Ostrya? There's not much information on the pathogen. I have looked in Leslie and Summerell's Fusarium Laboratory Manual and they mention F. merismoides, but not var. chlamydosporale. They say F. merismoides is a problem on tomato, grape, Ostrya and possibly potato. They also assume that it's a ubiquitous soil saprophyte. The interesting thing about this species is that it doesn't produce microconidia, just macro.

 

[KTSmith]

I'm not especially conversant with F. merismoides as a pathogen. I have isolated it from the soil. I don't get too torqued about variety names. Although the Fusarium researchers have named standardized varieties, the Code does not apply below the level of species and it's not incumbent on workers to name them. Although the predominance or even exclusive production of one spore type or another might be reliable for identification and classification, most any of these will produce microcondia or yeast-like budding under conditions of high CO2 and/or low O2 concentrations. We get used to traits as being pretty much fixed, but the pleomorphic fungi are so highly tuned in to their environment that they can shift their processes pretty easily if need be!
How do you think this fungus is affecting your Ostrya?