Scientists name tree-killing fungus

ASHEVILLE, N.C., July 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it has officially named the fungus that is killing redbay and other Florida, Georgia and South Carolina trees.

The USDA's Southern Research Station announced SRS plant pathologist Stephen Fraedrich, Iowa State University plant pathologist Tom Harrington and D.N. Aghayeva of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences named the fungus Raffaelea lauricola.

"Until now, the fungus was known as 'the laurel wilt pathogen' because of the devastating disease it causes in redbay trees and other laurel species like sassafras and avocado trees in the Southeast," said Fraedrich. "Now arborists, foresters, researchers, and regulatory officials have a formal, scientific name and description of the fungus, as well as a detailed explanation of how the pathogen compares to similar fungi."

Raffaelea lauricola is one of many species of fungi carried by ambrosia beetles, a group of highly specialized wood-boring insects that feed on symbiotic fungi that they carry from tree to tree in specialized sacs.

The research involving the fungus, which serves as a food source for beetle larvae, appeared in the April-June issue of the journal Mycotaxon.