Morphological and genetic characterization of Botrytis cinerea from Chavimochic-La Libertad, “the main exporting region of blueberry in Peru”

Tauma-Salvador E.; Ureta-Sierra C.; Ccoscco-Laruta L.; Dueñas-Davila F.; Cruz-Hilacondo W.; Alberca-Cruz O.; Casas-Dıáz A.; Apaza-Tapia W.; Aragón-Caballero L.; Huarhua-Zaquinaula M. · Acta Horticulturae (2023) · DOI: 10.17660/actahortic.2023.1378.49

Resumen

Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic cosmopolitan fungus that causes gray mold. It can be found in nature as a saprophage and affects different plant species. Peru is the largest supplier of blueberries in the world, and one of the problems during blueberries cultivation is caused by B. cinerea. The pathogen causes plant, flower, and fruit rotting. The main objective of the investigation was to study the genetic and morphological characteristics of B. cinerea isolates from blueberry grown in La Libertad region, the principal exporting region of Peru. The colonies were morphologically characterized according to their appearance, sporulation level, and sclerotic-forming capacity. The genetic characterization was performed using PCR, and detecting transposable elements, mating groups, and subpopulations of B. cinerea. As a result, 27 different isolates were obtained. The colonies were classified as mycelial (81.5%) and sclerotial (18.5%). Isolates were identified as B. cinerea using the specific primer pair C279+/-. We could identify 2 genotypes: transposa (72%) and boty (28%) types, and two mating groups: MAT1-1 (48%) and MAT1-2 (58%). In addition, subpopulations N (40%) and S (60%) were identified; with “S” being the subpopulation related to fungicide-resistant multidrug phenotypes. The multivariate analysis shows that all 27 isolates are grouped into 3 clusters, which were analyzed by morphological and genetic characters.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina