Neoscytalidium dimidiatum Associated With Canker Disease in Spondias mombin L. in Brazil

In 2023, Cajá trees ( Spondias mombin ) exhibiting symptoms of canker and resinosis were collected from a commercial plantation in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil. Affected plants displayed small, irregular cankers on the trunks and branches, accompanied by abundant resin exudation, which coalesced into extensive necrotic lesions. A Scytalidium‐like fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic tissues. Based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses of concatenated multilocus sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1‐alpha ( tef1‐α ), and β‐tubulin ( tub2 ), the isolates were identified as Neoscytalidium dimidiatum . Pathogenicity tests confirmed that all isolates caused typical canker symptoms on stems and fruit rot in S. mombin , S. purpurea , and S. tuberosa . The pathogen was re‐isolated from inoculated tissues, and its morphology matched that of the original cultures, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Our results demonstrate the pathogenic potential of N. dimidiatum on economically important Spondias species. This is the first report of N. dimidiatum as the causal agent of canker in S. mombin .