First Report of Leaf Blight and Stem Dieback of St. John's-Wort Caused by Diploceras hypericinum in Oregon

St. John's-wort, Hypericum perforatum L., was formerly considered a noxious weed in the Pacific Northwest and is now grown commercially for its medicinal properties. In May 1999, plants from a 5-ha field in Jefferson County, OR, were observed with yellowing leaves and stem dieback. Lower leaves showed marginal necrosis or circular, expanding, uniformly brown, unremarkable leaf lesions that appeared randomly over the lamina and consumed from a quarter to nearly the entire leaf area. Remaining leaf tissue was chlorotic, and affected leaves eventually abscised. Infection of the stems resulted in girdling lesions 0.5 to 1.0 cm in length that caused chlorosis, wilting, and eventual dieback of tissues distal to the lesion. Diploceras hypericinum (Cesati) Diedicke was sporulating on affected stems and leaves. The fungus was isolated from surface-disinfested tissue onto 1.5% water agar. A single-spore isolate was used to inoculate 10-month-old plants raised from seed in sand. Spores from 6-week-old cultures grown on 50% potato-dextrose agar were harvested, suspended in phosphate buffer with 0.2% gelatin (PBG), and sprayed onto three plants using a DeVilbiss atomizer. Inoculum concentration was 7 × 103 and 3 ml per plant were used (plants were 8 to 10 cm tall). Three control plants were sprayed with sterile PBG. Inoculated and control plants were separately bagged to retain moisture and maintained at 22 to 25°C. Four days later, inoculated plants exhibited leaf spots similar to those originally observed, followed by stem dieback. D. hypericinum was isolated from all inoculated plants but not from control plants. The known distribution of D. hypericinum is France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Greece, and Ontario, Canada (1,2). This is the first report of D. hypericinum causing leaf blight and stem dieback of St. John's-wort in the United States. References: (1) D. F. Farr et al. 1989. Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the United States. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN. (2) T. R. Nag Raj. 1993. Coelomycetous Anamorphs with Appendage-bearing Conidia. Mycologue Publications, Waterloo, Canada.