Botrytis cinerea as the causal agent of grey mould on floral tissue of mango in Japan

Abstract

In March 2016, grey mould disease was observed on mango (Mangifera indica) in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. During the flowering period, the disease caused a brown coloration of the petals and peduncles accompanied by white aerial mycelium. As the disease symptoms progressed, the rot of panicle parts was accompanied by grey mould, resulting in fruit set failure. A fungus was isolated from the discoloured inflorescence into pure culture. Based on morphology and analyses of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (g3pdh), heat-shock protein 60 (hsp60) and DNA-dependent RNA polymerase subunit II (rpb2) DNA sequences the fungus was identified as Botrytis cinerea. In an inoculation test, the isolate reproduced the symptoms observed on mango petals and peduncles and was reisolated from the flowers. This is the first report of B. cinerea as the causal agent of grey mould (haiirokabi-byo in Japanese) on floral tissue of mango in Japan.