Citrus scab

Scientific name

[Fungus] Elsinoe fawcettii Bitancourt and Jenk.

Anamorph Sphaceloma fawcettii Jenk.

Other common names

Sour orange scab

Disease cycle

Conidia are produced on the surface of scabscab:
rough, crust-like, diseased or injured area on the surface of a plant
pustules. These spores spread to new susceptible tissue. There are two kinds of spores, clear oval shaped and colored spindle shaped (found in Florida and Brazil). The clear oval shaped type are spread by splashing rain and perish as soon as they dry, while the spindle-shaped form remain viable for a short time and are dispersed by wind for short distances.

Symptoms

Leaf and fruit - early scabscab:
rough, crust-like, diseased or injured area on the surface of a plant
pustules are a mixture of fungal and hosthost:
an organism that is infected with or fed upon by a pathogenic or parasitic organism
tissue. These pustules are slightly raised and pink to light brown in color. Young foliar lesions superficially resemble young citrus canker and may have a slight water soaked margin. As fruit and leaf pustules develop, the small elevated pink spots become more defined and may form conical depressions nearby. As the pustules mature, they become warty and crack. Pustule color may progress to yellowish brown and eventually to a dirty grey. On lemons, tangerines, and sour orange, the growths are relatively raised. In contrast, on grapefruit the growths are flatter.

Host range

Citrus scabscab:
rough, crust-like, diseased or injured area on the surface of a plant
is only a serious problem on some varieties. It is severe on rootstockrootstock:
a living plant, sometimes just the stump, with a healthy, established root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant; the grafted portion is called the scion
seedlings of rough lemon, sour orange, Rangpur lime, and Carrizo citrange, and scions of Murcott tangor, Temple tangor, and other tangerine hybrids. It is occasionally found on grapefruit.

Distribution

Present in most humid citrus producing areas.

Easily confused with

Young citrus canker