Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) is a non-autochthonous but commonly planted ornamental tree in the Czech Republic. However, this species is sensitive to some Phytophthora infections causing socalled ink disease. The disease usually occurs in warmer regions in Europe. In the Czech Republic it had not been detected until the nineties of the 20th century. In 1997 extensive decline of a sweet chestnut ornamental orchard with typical symptoms of ink disease was found at one locality in eastern Bohemia. Later the causal organism of this disease Phytophthora cambivora (Petri) Buisman was isolated from necrotised tissues of trunks of several declining chestnut trees. This is the first find of the pathogen causing ink disease of chestnut in the Czech Republic.
Černý K., Gregorová B., Strnadová V., Tomšovský M., Holub V., Gabrielová Š. (2008): Phytophthora cambivora causing ink disease of sweet chestnut recorded in the Czech Republic. – Czech Mycology 60(2): 265–274.
