Paramyrothecium foliicola causes crown dry rot of melon (Cucumis melo) in Iran.

In spring 2018, melon (Cucumis melo L.) plants with wilting of the leaves and dry rot of the crowns were observed in Dashti county, Bushehr province, southern Iran. Nine fungal isolates were recovered from the symptomatic crowns. Based on the morphological characteristics and DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal RNA gene, the fungus was identified as Paramyrothecium foliicola L. Lombard and Crous. The pathogenicity of the isolates was confirmed on melon under greenhouse conditions to fulfil the Koch's postulates. Host range determination showed except for pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata L.) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L.), several other cucurbit crops exhibited high disease incidence. To our knowledge, this is the first report of crown dry rot of melon caused by P. foliicola in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]