In a routine inspection on a plantation of kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa) plants were found with wilt symptoms, internal browning and death of the stem tissues. Isolations from infected tissues and soil rhizosphere, allowed to obtain a culture of fungus with morphological characteristics similar to Ceratocystis fimbrita whose identification was confirmed based on the sequencing of the ITS region of rDNA. The pathogenicity test was conducted in Monty and Farroupilha varieties. It was found that the causal agent of the disease in kiwi belong to the C. fimbriata complex and to the group of Latin America and the isolates inoculated were pathogenic to two varieties tested.
Ceratocystis wilt; Actinidia deliciosa; pathogenicity
