First report of gray mold of chickpea caused by Botrytis euroamericana in the USA
- Moparthi, Swarnalatha [ Montana State University: Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology ]
- Peluola, Cecilia [ Montana State University: Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology ]
- Agindotan, Bright [ Montana State University: Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology ]
- McPhee, Kevin [ Montana State University: Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology ]
- Burrows, Mary [ Montana State University: Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology ]
Gray mold caused by Botrytis spp. is one of the most important diseases of chickpea. In August 2019, chickpea plants with gray mold symptoms were submitted to the Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Laboratory (RPCDL) at Montana State University (MSU). To identify the causal agent, leaves were surface sterilized and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). The fungus was off white color and did not sporulate on PDA; sclerotia were observed after 10 days of incubation. The pathogen was identified as Botrytis euroamericana by the amplification of part of the G3PDH, HSP60, and RPB2 genes and by phylogenetic analysis. Pathogenicity tests revealed that the isolate was able to cause lesions on chickpea, lentil, dry pea, and fava bean foliage.