Poster: Diseases of Plants: Disease Detection & Diagnosis
446-P
First report of Botrytis pseudocinerea in blueberry fields in southern Chile
E. BRICEÑO (1), E. Briceño (2), S. Aguirre (3), A. Behn (2) (1) Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile; (2) Universidad Austral Chile, Chile; (3) Univ austral Chile, Chile
Botrytis cinerea is the most important pathogen in blueberry crops (Vaccinium spp.) in southern Chile, where the rainy and windy weather are highly favorable to its reproduction. Due we had observed a high morphological variability on Botrytis isolates from different commercial fields, the aim of this work was to perform a molecular study of isolates of Botrytis associated with blueberry gray mold. To estimate the diversity of this pathogen, 39 monosporic cultures of Botrytis obtained from mature blueberry fruits from eight locations (Lat. 39º06’S to 41º28’S) and eight cultivars were genetically characterized. Their genotype was determinate by PCR detection of transposons Boty and Flipper. In addition, coding fragment for the MS457 gene was sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was built using the Neighbor-joining and UPGMA clustering method. The genetic studies showed the presence of four genotypes, predominating Vacuma (57%) in the geographic region, then Boty (18%), Flipper (15%) and finally Transposa (10%). MS457 gene only was present in 10/39 isolates, its homology and phylogenetic analysis showed the presence of two sympatric populations of Botrytis on blueberry, allowed us to identify eight isolates as B. cinerea and two isolates as Botrytis pseudocinerea. In our knowledge this is the first report de B. pseudocinerea in blueberries in Chile.