Cryptostroma corticale in Italy: new reports of sooty bark of Acer pseudoplatanus and first outbreak on Acer campestre

Monitoring of emerging plant diseases in the Apennine mountains (centralItaly) identified Cryptostroma corticale as the cause of the disease sooty bark of mapletrees. The identified sites were located in rural or forested areas, next to buildings, invillages or suburbs, and one site was in a forest. Samples of symptomatic tissues weretaken from Acer pseudoplatanus and/or A. campestre, as well as asymptomatic samplesfrom A. campestre and Aesculus hippocastanum. All samples tested positive to a spe-cies-specific qPCR assay for the presence of C. corticale, indicating wide incidence ofthe disease in the northern Apennines of Italy, after attempted eradication of the firstsmall group of infected plants were found in 2012.