Figure 3. Mean proportion of the diseased leaf area per cultivar 7 and 10 days post-inoculation (7, 10 dpi) reported for Alternaria alternata, Alternaria arborescens SC and Alternaria brassicicola.

(A) Mean proportion of the diseased leaf area per cultivar (Gala in red and Golden Delicious in blue) 7 days post-inoculation (7 dpi) reported for isolates of Alternaria alternata, Alternaria arborescens SC and Alternaria brassicicola, identified by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Statistical tests were only performed on Alternaria alternata and Alternaria arborescens SC. The results showed that on 7 dpi, leaves of the Golden Delicious cultivar were more susceptible than leaves of the Gala cultivar (Type II Wald; χ² = 17.296; p < 0.001). No differences were observed between isolates of Alternaria alternata and Alternaria arborescens SC. A significant effect of the experiment repetition (Type II Wald; χ² = 84.013; p < 0.001) was also observed. (B) Mean proportion of the diseased leaf area per cultivar (Gala in red and Golden Delicious in blue) 10 days after inoculation (10 dpi) reported for isolates of Alternaria alternata, Alternaria arborescens and Alternaria brassicicola, identified by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Statistical tests were only performed on Alternaria alternata and Alternaria arborescens SC. The results showed that on 10 dpi, leaves of the Golden Delicious cultivar were more susceptible than leaves of the Gala cultivar (Type II Wald; χ² = 11.80; p < 0.001). No differences were observed between isolates of Alternaria alternata and Alternaria arborescens SC. A significant effect of the experiment repetition (Type II Wald; χ² = 91.82; p < 0.001) was also observed.