Sirococcus shoot blight on Picea spinulosa in Bhutan

SummaryDuring a recent survey of forest tree diseases in Western and Central Bhutan, Sirococcus shoot blight and an associatedSirococcussp. were found on saplings and mature trees of Eastern Himalayan spruce (Picea spinulosa). Based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence comparisons of the ITS region of the rDNA operon, representative isolates from Bhutan were unequivocally identified asSirococcus conigenus. The DNA sequence data also showed that these isolates belong to the P group ofS. conigenus. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of Sirococcus shoot blight from the Himalayas or any other part of Asia.Sirococcus conigenusdoes not appear to cause dramatic damage at the moment, but this fungus has the potential to cause severe disease problems onP. spinulosain Bhutan.