First report of <i>Boeremia exigua</i> var. <i>exigua</i> causing stem canker on rose in Türkiye

Rose is widely cultivated in Türkiye for a wide variety of purposes, such as for cosmetics, medicine, ceremonies, juice and food supplements. In recent years, rose plants in some parks in Diyarbakır province have increasingly suffered from a disease characterized by dark brown spots on the trunk, branches and leaves, which gradually expand and eventually cover the entire plant. A pathogenic fungus was isolated from the infected plants tissues. Following morphological characterization, nucleotide sequence comparisons were performed by analysing fragments from three loci: ITS, β-tubulin and translation elongation factor 1-alpha. The pathogens were identified as Boeremia exigua var. exigua, and its pathogenicity was confirmed on the stems, branches and leaves of rose using Koch’s postulates. As far as we know, this is the first report of B. exigua var. exigua causing disease on rose in Türkiye.