Pest survey card on Anisogramma anomala

This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M-2020-0114), at the request of the European Commission. Its purpose is to guide the Member States in preparing data and information for surveys for the causal agent of eastern filbert blight, Anisogramma anomala. The pathogen is a well-defined and distinguishable fungal species of the family Valsaceae and is a Union quarantine pest. Anisogramma anomala is currently not known to occur within the EU and is only reported in the USA and Canada. Anisogramma anomala is a biotrophic ascomycete known to infect only species of Corylus L. (filbert or hazelnut). The major host on which damage is most reported is C. avellana, and C. maxima is reported as a wild host of the pathogen. Detection and delimiting surveys of A. anomala in the EU should focus mainly on C. avellana, and C. maxima where present. In spring A. anomala infects the young vegetative tissues of Corylus spp., following budbreak, through ascospores. Symptoms appear 12-16 months after the initial infection as cankers and rows of elliptical stromata containing perithecia. Anisogramma anomala spreads naturally through ascospores dispersed by rain or air currents. Human-assisted spread is facilitated via imports of infected plants for planting and/or wood and cut branches of the host plants bearing the stromata of A. anomala. Climatic conditions and host availability are not to be considered as a limiting factor for the establishment of the pathogen in the EU territory, if introduced. Anisogramma anomala can be detected in the field through host specificity and observation of specific symptoms on the host plants. Following visual examination, sampling must be conducted if cankers are observed. Pathogen identification must be confirmed in the laboratory using the available TaqMan Real-time assay.