Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1496-8936

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Division of Plant and Soil Sciences

Committee Chair

Matthew Kasson

Committee Co-Chair

Daniel Panaccione

Committee Member

Daniel Panaccione

Committee Member

Shannon Lynch

Abstract

The family Nectriaceae includes numerous phytopathogenic fungi that cause canker diseases on both angiosperm and conifer hosts worldwide. Numerous Neonectria spp. cause cankers on hardwoods and conifers in North America, but their roles in contributing to tree decline and mortality outside of beech bark disease are largely understudied. One such pathogen, Neonectria magnoliae, causes perennial cankers on two native hosts in central Appalachia: Fraser magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) and tulip-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). We also recently confirmed N. magnoliae from non-native star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) in West Virginia. Both native hosts occur in the central Appalachian Mountains, but in different forests at different elevations. Neonectria magnoliae was first described in 1943, and little work has been done since that time to investigate its impact
across the forested landscape. We proposed a series of field and lab studies to investigate and delimit species boundaries for N. magnoliae. To accomplish this, we used multi-locus sequence data, comparative genomics, and phylogenetic analyses to test whether N. magnoliae encompasses two cryptic sister species or represents a single species with host-specific pathotypes. Our proposed research included morphological studies as well as reciprocal mating type and pathogenicity assays to provide a comprehensive evaluation of species and host boundaries within N. magnoliae and their relationship with other Neonectria spp. The primary aim of this research is resolving intraspecies differences among strains of N. magnoliae.

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