Akebia trifoliata (Thunberg) Koidzumi (three-leaf akebia) has long been prized for its delicious sweet taste and medicinal value. There are few reports about the pests and diseases affecting this plant, however, with more commercial planting of A. trifoliata in China, symptoms of anthracnose on leaves and fruits have increased.   

Dr. PAN Hui, Associate Prof. LI Li and Prof. ZHONG Caihong from Wuhan Botanical Garden firstly observed the typical anthracnose signs on A. trifoliata grown in Wuhan, China, with an incidence up to 15%, during December 2018 to May 2019.  

Infected leaves exhibited irregular gray-brown spots with dark brown edges, and dark brown undersides, badly affecting photosynthesis and growth of A. trifoliata. As disease progressed, stem rotted and fruit dropped caused by the white mycelium appearance. Several round or needle-shaped dark brown spots formed on fruit peel, coalescing into irregular, slightly sunken blotches. Under high humidity, the whole fruit turned brown and the spots were covered by white bloom, greatly affecting the fruits’ ornamental quality. 

To isolate the pathogen, the research team surveyed the morphological characteristics, finding they were consistent with those of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. BLAST search and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis were applied to make the identification.  

The analysis reveals that C. gloeosporioides is the main pathogen causing anthracnose on Akebia trifoliata in China.  

The results provide a theoretical basis for the prediction and comprehensive control of anthracnose diseases on Akebia trifoliata in China.   

Results were published in Plant Disease entitled “First Rreport of Aanthracnose Ccaused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on Akebia trifoliata in China”. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China , Science and technology program funded by Wuhan Science and Technology Bureau. 

Natural symptoms of Akebia trifoliata anthracnose disease and morphological characteristics of C. gloeosporioides (Image by WBG)