A quick histopathological technique was developed to detect clamidospores (aleuroconidia) of Ceratocystis fimbriata in infected xylem vessels and medulla of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) wood using light microscopy, and tangential hand prepared cross sections made with razor blade under a stereoscopic microscope. The average time necessary to detect the pathogen, including sample preparation and microscope observations, was 3.5 min and less when longitudinal sections passing by the medulla were made. Therefore, this method was significantly quicker than other traditional techniques such as pathogen isolation on potato-dextrose-agar medium, deposition of infected wood fragments between slices of carrot bait, or placing the infected pieces of wood in a moist chamber. This technique also was viable to detect C. fimbriata colonizing other woody hosts such as cocoa (Theobroma cacao), mango (Mangifera indica), and hyphae of Lasiodiplodia theobromae even when both organisms were in the same tissue as investigated in the mango blight disease in the Sultanate of Oman.
etiology; fungal disease
