Use of Сolletotrichum spp. isolated from golden currant to control fruit rot of late-maturing plum varieties

A series of research studies were conducted during the period of 2022–2024. In 2022, spraying green plum fruits with an aqueous suspension containing spores of the Colletotrichum sp. godetiae fungus at a concentration of 1500 spores/10 mL reduced fruit rot lesions caused by Monilinia spp. species by 14.4 times. In 2023, the efficacy of fruit rot suppression by an isolate of Colletotrichum sp. Coll.8 (C. fioriniae) was twofold lower than that of Colletotrichum sp. godetiae in 2022. Mycological studies showed that infestation of leaves and fruits by Colletotrichum spp. isolates was high (83.3–100 %) compared to the natural background (8.3–25.0 %). However, following one year of treatment, this parameter decreased to 8.3–16.7 %. This indicates the absence of accumulation of these isolates during single application. The conducted research and literature review established low probability for the studied Colletotrichum spp. isolates to manifest pathogenicity on plum. The use of Colletotrichum sp. godetiae and Colletotrichum sp. (Coll. 8) isolates for plum fruit rot control may be promising, which requires additional studies into the effects of weather conditions and treatment periods.