Do blossom end rot fungus and Asian chestnut gall wasp interact on chestnut

The Asian chestnut gall wasp is a globally invasive insect pest that undergoes periodic population outbreaks. Necrotic fungal lesions have been noted on external gall surfaces, especially when populations are high. When inoculated into galls, the causal fungus of these lesions has recently been shown to cause extensive gall wasp mortality and has been identified molecularly as belonging to the Colletotrichum acutatum species complex. Conidial morphology is consistent with this identification. Interestingly, the causal fungus of blossom end rot, which causes significant losses to chestnut producers and is the target of extensive management efforts, is a Colletotrichum. We intend to characterize these two organisms, a plant pathogen and an apparent insect pathogen, to gain an understanding of their relatedness and potential interactions.