Taken in the strictest sense (ie, only species with Chalara anamorphs; Paul and Harrington, 2000; Paulin et al., 2002), this is a small but important genus of plant pathogens, causing major diseases on trees throughout the world, including oak wilt in Iowa.

Many Ceratocystis species have been moved to new continents by humans, and some have caused serious economic and ecological losses (Engelbrecht et al. 2004; Thorpe et al., 2005; Ocasio et al., 2007).

We have extensively studied the species that attack conifers, which appear to be a monopheletic group (Harrington et al., 2002; Witthuhn et al., 1998).

The mating systems of these fungi are of particular interest. Unidirectional mating type switching occurs in Ceratocystis (Harrington and McNew, 1997), and we are working on the molecular basis of this switching (Witthuhn et al., 2000), as well as interfertility among Ceratocystis species (Harrington and McNew, 1998).

The National Science Foundation has been the main supporter of this work (DEB-9870675, DEB-0128104).

Illustrations of various diseases caused by Ceratocystis can be found through this link. Diseases of cacao, sweet potato, inhame, fig, mango, coffee, aspen, sycamore, hickory, almond, maple, Nothofagus, palms, and oak are illustrated thus far. The above link has links to three more specific pages: 1. Ceratocystis fimbriata Diseases 2. A special section on Ceratocystis wilt of cacao, caused by C. fimbriata 3. Diseases caused by Ceratocystis paradoxa, C. fagacearum, C. virescens and Chalara australis	A review of the liturature on Ceratocystis fimbriata and the diseases caused by this complex of species, prepared for CABI's 2001 Crop Protection Compendium, is available: Text References Photos

Click Here For All My Publications onCeratocystis and Mating Genetics

• Canker stain (C. platani) of oriental plane in Greece (pdf file of manuscript) .
• Annona squamosa, a new host of Ceratocystis fimbriata (pdf file of manuscript).
• The North American clade of the Ceratocystis fimbriata complex (pdf file of manuscript).
• Ceratocystis fimbriata, C. cacaofunesta and C. platani on sweet potato, cacao and sycamore (pdf file of manuscript).
• Ceratocystis fimbriata on Colocasia esculenta in Brazil (pdf file of manuscript).
• Ceratocystis fimbriata on the Araceae (pdf file of manuscript).
• Genetic variation in North American and introduced populations of Ceratocystis fimbriata f. platani (pdf file of manuscript).
• Resistance to Ceratocystis fimbriata in Eucalyptus. (pdf file of manuscript).
• Microsatellite markers for Ceratocystis fimbriata. (pdf file of manuscript).
• First report of Thielaviopsis populi on hybrid poplar in Hungary. (pdf file of manuscript).
• Host specialization in the Latin American clade of Ceratocystis fimbriata. (pdf file of manuscript).
• Phylogeny and taxonomy of Chalara, Chalaropsis, and Thielaviopsis anamorphs (pdf file of manuscript).
• Placement of Chalara species among ascomycete genera (pdf file of manuscript)
• Species delimitation and host specialization of Ceratocystis laricicola and C. polonica (pdf file of manuscript).
• Genetic variation in the wilt pathogen Ceratocystis albofundus.
• CAB International. Ceratocystis fimbriata [original text prepared by TC Harrington & C Baker] [text and photos on my website]
• Deletion of the MAT-2 mating type gene during mating type switching (down load pdf file of paper)
• Comparison of isozymes, rDNA spacer regions and MAT-2 DNA sequences in phylogenentics.
• Host specialization in Ceratocystis fimbriata
• The Ceratocystis species on conifers.
• PCR-based identification and phylogeny of species of Ceratocystis sensu stricto. (Download PDF file of full text)
• Partial interfertility among the Ceratocystis species on conifers. (Link to Abstract)
• Two species in the Ceratocystis coerulescens complex from conifers in western North America. (Link to Abstract)
• Monophyly of the conifer species in the Ceratocystis coerulescens complex using DNA sequence data. (Link to Abstract)
• Self-fertility and uni-directional mating type switching in Ceratocystis coerulescens. (Download PDF file of full text)

Acquisition of Ceratocystis fagacearum by nitidulid beetles is illustrated by clicking on the thumbnail at left.

Black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) on the cliff (left of photo) is showing wilt symptoms due to wattle wilt, caused by Ceratocystis albofundus. This exotic tree is commercially important in southern Africa, where it has also become a serious weed. Wilt is the most serious disease on black wattle. This view is from God's Window, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Deletion of the MAT-2 idiomorph in unidirectional mating type switching is illustrated by clicking on the gel photo.