First report of Penicillium ulaiense causing whisker mould on stored citrus fruit in Tunisia

In a survey carried out in January-July 2014, fruits showing blue and/or green efflorescence, were picked in farms and packinghouses of the northeastern part of Cap Bon peninsula, and brought to the laboratory. On infected fruits P. digitatum and P. italicum coexisted with a morphologically distinct Penicillium spp. This latter was sub-cultured on malt extract agar (MEA) and identified, according to its morphological and cultural characteristics, as P. ulaiense, the causal agent of whisker mould, whose distinctive feature is the ability to form coremia (1-7 mm tall) with white stalks arranged in concentric circles or circular patches (Holmes et al., 1994).