Brown spot needle blight threatens Kentucky pines

Brown spot needle blight, caused by a fungal pathogen called Lecanosticta acicola, has been present in the U.S. for more than 100 years. Two major outbreaks occurred recently, including an outbreak affecting more than a million acres of loblolly pine in the Southeast and an outbreak in eastern white pine in the Northeast. The pathogen also infects other species and is present across the globe. 

Photo Credit

Tyler Dreaden, USDA FS SRS

Slide from the presentation showing brown spot symptoms (left) and fruiting bodies (right).

At the 5th Annual Kentucky Forest Health Conference in Lexington, Kentucky in February 2024, researchers presented overviews of the disease, current research, and the threat this disease might pose to Kentucky's forests. The presentation grew from a collaborative research project between SRS, the University of Kentucky, and University of Georgia on the origins of the brown spot needle outbreak in the Southeast. The study will determine if novel pathogen genotypes or genes are driving the outbreak and clarify the distribution and taxonomy of the two Lecanosticta acicola lineages in the U.S.