The safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a crop of medicinal and industrial importance and is now considered a plant of great potential to biodiesel production. The objective of this study was to verify the causal agent of the spots observed in safflower plants in the IAPAR experimental field in Londrina-PR. Isolations were made from leaf lesions of symptomatic plants and pathogenicity test of the isolates in healthy plants of safflower. The inoculated plants showed symptoms of anthracnose on leaves, stems and the flower bud , and death of seedlings. The observation and analysis of reproductive structures of the fungus in media culture and in host tissue, as well as taxon-specific PCR allowed the identification of the fungus as belonging to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides specie. This was the first report of anthracnose caused by C. gloeosporioides in safflower in Parana state.
anthracnose; safflower; pathogenicity; PCR
