SHORT COMMUNICATION Molecular and morpho-cultural characterization of Colletotrichum spp. associated with anthracnose on Capsicum spp. in northeastern Brazil Janaíne R. A. Silva 1 & Tamires P. Chaves 1 & Ana R. G. da Silva 1 & Leonardo da F. Barbosa 1 & Jaqueline F. O. Costa 1 & Roberto Ramos-Sobrinho 1 & Raíza R. O. Teixeira 1 & Sarah J. C. Silva 1 & Gaus S. A. Lima 1 & Iraildes P. Assunção 1 Received: 21 December 2016 /Accepted: 11 April 2017 # Sociedade Brasileira de Fitopatologia 2017 Abstract Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum spp., is one of the major fungal diseases that affect Capsicum spp. and leads to severe crop losses. The aim of this study was to identify species within Colletotrichum that cause anthracnose in bell and hot pepper using phylogenetic and morphological criteria. Pathogenic isolates were obtained from bell and hot peppers exhibiting anthracnose symptoms and grown in the northeast- ern region of Brazil. These were initially identified based on the sequences of GAPDH, ACT, CAL, β-TUB genes and the ITS- rDNA region. Mycelial growth, coloration of the colony, size and shape of conidia and appressoria were determined for the selected isolates. It was concluded that five species: C. brevisporum, C. scovillei, C. siamense, C. tropicale and C. truncatum compose the species complex associated with anthracnose of Capsicum spp. in northeastern Brazil. Keywords Capsicum annuum . Capsicum frutescens . Colletotrichum brevisporum . Colletotrichum siamense . Colletotrichum tropicale . Colletotrichum truncatum The genus Colletotrichum includes important plant pathogens (Dean et al. 2012) responsible for causing anthracnose disease in a wide range of hosts of economic importance such as cereals, grasses, vegetables, legumes and fruits (Ivey et al. 2004). Anthracnose is one of the most destructive diseases occurring in hot peppers and bell peppers (Capsicum spp.) in both tropical and subtropical regions. The disease primarily affects Capsicum fruit, causing dark depressed circular lesions with variable diameters, from where a spore mass of pink salmon coloration emerges (Kurozawa and Pavan 2005). Capsicum species are subject to severe losses in field and post-harvest conditions due to the incidence of anthracnose when humidity and temperature are favorable (Kurozawa and Pavan 2005; Tozze Júnior et al. 2006). The etiology of Capsicum anthracnose is complex and at least 13 species including C. coccodes, C. gloeosporioides, C. capsici , C. acutatum, C. truncatum, C. boninense, C. siamense, C. fructicola, C. scovillei, C. sichuanensis, C. brevisporum, C. nymphaeae, and C. karstii have been iden- tified in several regions of the world (Tozze Júnior et al. 2007; Than et al. 2008; Damm et al. 2009; Diao et al. 2013; Sharma and Shenoy 2013; Caires et al. 2014; Liu et al. 2016; Nasehi et al. 2016; Saini et al. 2016). Identification of Colletotrichum species has traditionally been based on morpho-cultural characters, host range and symptoms of infection on a particular host (Hyde et al. 2009a, b; Cai et al. 2009). However these characteristics are not reliable and vary according to experimental conditions (Cai et al. 2009; Hyde et al. 2009b). Several studies have recommended the use of multi-gene phylogeny in conjunction with recognizable phenotypic characters, such as morphology, pathogenicity and cultural characteristics for the accurate identification of Colletotrichum species (Cai et al. 2009; Hyde et al. 2009a, b; Cannon et al. 2012; Noireung et al. 2012; Weir et al. 2012; Sharma et al. 2014). To date, six species (C. acutatum, C. gloesporioides, C. coccodes, C. boninense, C. capsici and C. scovillei) have been associated with hot pepper and bell pepper anthracnose Section Editor: Jorge T. de Souza Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40858-017-0151-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Janaíne R. A. Silva janaine_rossane@hotmail.com 1 Setor de Fitossanidade/Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Rio Largo, AL, Brazil 57100-000 Trop. plant pathol. DOI 10.1007/s40858-017-0151-7