Background:

One of the toppest horticultural crops in the Mexican states of Durango and Zacatecas is pepper (Capsicum annuum), which is affected by foliar and soilborne diseases. Since the 2016 crop season a new symptom, foliar necrosis, was observed affecting pepper plants in both states.

Objectives:

Identify the pathogens associated to this new symptomatology in pepper plants from Durango and Zacatecas, México.

Methods:

Diseased pepper plants showing foliar necrosis were collected in commercial fields from Durango and Zacatecas, Mexico. Aerial and root symptoms shown in every plant were recorded; root and rootlets from every sampled plant were PDA-plated and fungi colonies were identified.

Results and conclusions:

The main characteristic of this symptomatology was the presence of a foliar necrosis. A group of five soilborne pathogens (Phytophthora spp., Pythium spp., Fusarium spp., Rhizoctonia spp. y Verticillium spp.) was identified in the root system of pepper plants. The isolation frecuency was higher for Rhizoctonia spp., Fusarium spp., and Verticillium spp. than Phytophthora spp., and Pythium spp.