South American Leaf Blight (SALB) of Hevea rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) tree, a disease caused by the fungus Microcyclus ulei, is the principal reason for the rather poor development of natural rubber production in Brazil. To obtain a more accurate knowledge of the diversity of this pathogen, 50 fungus isolates originated from the "Plantações Michelin da Bahia" were studied in 1997 and 1998, by observing the host's reaction type when inoculated on 12 different rubber clones. Inoculations were performed on the lower surface of young leaflets, with at least three replications in different plants and days, in an inoculation chamber with relative humidity superior to 95% and temperature between 23 and 26 °C. Evaluation of symptoms was carried out 12 days after inoculation, using a 1 to 6 scale which measured virulence and sporulation intensity. Thirty-six perfils of virulence were identified among the 50 tested isolates, and 21 showed virulence on more than nine clones while none showed virulence on all 12 different clones. The aggressiveness of isolates, evaluated through the intensity of sporulation, varied significantly from one clone to another. Each isolate usually presented a high degree of aggressiveness to some clones and a low degree to to others, with the exception of isolates FTP 11 and FTP 44 which always displayed a low degree of aggressiveness. For example, some isolates showed higher aggressiveness to Hevea benthamiana clones, while others was more aggressive to H. brasiliensis clones. Four isolates seem to be specific to clone FX 2784.
