Rose Hip Fly (Rhagoletis alternata Fallen) and Leaf Spot Fungus (Sphaceloma rosarum (Pass.) Jenkins) - Possible Threats against Rose Hip Production?

• Due to their biochemical compounds, the international interest of growing rose hips has increased. The raw material comes mainly from handpicked wild-growing plants in Chile. However, cultivation is necessary to ensure regular quality from varieties with characters required for different and specialised products. Therefore, a rose hip programme was initiated in mid 80s in Sweden. The same fungal diseases and pests affect the wild roses as the ornamental roses. Rose hip fly (Rhagoletis alternata) is the most important pest on rose hips. An outbreak of leaf spot (Sphaceloma rosarum sexual stage, Elsinoe rosarum) was noted at our department (Balsgard, south of Sweden) in 1996. It appears to increase and is now the main fungus on our cultivated rose hips. In the autumn 2006, samples of fruits and leaves were collected at 16 localities in the south of Sweden. We found that 90% of the wild-growing plants had infested fruits. However, the major part of the plants had less than 50% infested fruits. No significant differences regarding percentage of infested fruits could be noticed when the three subsections Caninae, Rubigineae, and Vestitae were compared. We also found no significant differences between localities and percentages of infested fruits, or between species and infested fruits. Fungal isolates (totally 35) from collected leaves were grown successfully on PDA (potato-dextrose-agar). In six of the isolates the sexual stage was found.

Subject headings

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Trädgårdsvetenskap/hortikultur (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Horticulture (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Livsmedelsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Food Science (hsv//eng)

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