Investigation of the route of infection of Serpula himantioides causing butt rot

This study aims to clarify the possibility that Serpula himantioides, which causes butt rot, can be transmitted through tree roots. Six stumps of Chamaecyparis pisifera with butt rot was dismantled and samples of decayed wood were collected in japan. Amplicon sequencing analysis was performed using the ITS2 region of the extracted fungal rDNA using Illumina Miseq platform. Serpula spp. were detected in all the samples, indicating that Serpula himantioides was the pathogen at this study site.