First report of Botrytis cinerea in South African blueberry orchards

• DOI: 10.1007/s41348-024-00963-5
• Publication Date: 2024-07-04T08:15:06Z
• Authors: Bryce J. Foster; Ida Wilson; Karin Jacobs
• Keywords: Botrytis

Abstract The South African blueberry industry has grown consistently over the past few years due to an increase in local and international demand. Like many other crops, blueberries are susceptible grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea , resulting significant reductions yield. In this study, isolates were recovered from symptomatic fruit, flowers, leaves undifferentiated buds, but not found as endophytes healthy tissues. Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase ( G3PDH ), heat-shock protein 60 HSP60 ) DNA-dependent RNA polymerase subunit II RPB2 genes identified 88 B. strains well a single pelargonii strain. results presented study first contribute towards characterisation populations orchards.