Dothistroma septosporum

Dothistroma septosporum or Mycosphaerella pini is a hemibiotrophic species of fungus that causes the disease commonly known as red band needle blight. This fungal disease affects the needles of conifers, and is mainly found on pine (Pinus sp.). Over 60 species have been reported to be prone to infection and Corsican pine (Pinus nigra ssp. laricio) is the most susceptible species in Great Britain. The precise origins of D. septosporum are unknown, although there are suggestions that the disease might be from the pine forests of Nepal, in the Himalayas. The origin is alternatively thought to be from the high-altitude rain forests of South America. The general opinion is that the fungus has been prevalent for some length of time in the Southern Hemisphere, where D. septosporum caused significant damage to non-native pine populations starting in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the 1990s, high levels of infection have also been reported in the Northern Hemisphere, with unprecedented records of t......read more on Wikipedia.