Diaporthe novem isolated from sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and other crop and weed hosts in Australia

In 2011, patches of lodged plants of Helianthus annuus (commercial sunflower) with stem lesions were observed in a commercial crop at Kingsthorpe, Queensland, Australia. Several species of Diaporthe were consistently isolated from the lesions. Diaporthe novem was identified by DNA sequence analysis. In following surveys, Diaporthe novem was found to be associated with other crop species including Cicer arietinum (chickpea), Glycine max (soybean), Lupinus alba (lupin), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum) Vicia faba (faba bean) and Vigna radiata (mungbean), and with the weed species Datura stramonium (common thornapple), Helianthus annuus (wild-type sunflower), Malva parviflora (small flowered mallow), Rapistrum rugosum (turnip weed), Sambucus gaudichaudiana (wild elderberry), Sisymbrium orientale (indian hedge mustard), Sonchus oleraceus (sowthistle), Verbena sp., Vicia sativa (common vetch), and Xanthium strumarium (noogoora burr). In pathogenicity tests, isolates of D. novem from sunflower were highly virulent when re-inoculated on commercial sunflower varieties. This study has identified D. novem as a frequent cause of stem canker of sunflower in the eastern cropping areas of Australia, and extends the known host range of D. novem.