Sooty Mold of Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) Caused by Cladosporium cladosporioides

In 2002, sooty mold was observed on persimmon (Diopyros kald) from the Jinju Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Gyeongnam, Korea. The lesion of the sooty mold usually appeared as scars or wounds formed on the surface of the fruits. The symptom started with water soaking lesion, then the fruit softened rapidly. Colony of the causal pathogenic fungus was dark green in color on potato dextrose agar. The diameter of growing hyphae was 1-2 $\mu\textrm{m}$. The mostly one-celled conidia were ovoid, lemon or cylinder in shape, blastophores, and sized 46-132 $\mu\textrm{m}$. Erected conidiophores were long-branched chains and their lengths varied from 24 to 346 $\mu\textrm{m}$ with 2-5 $\mu\textrm{m}$ width. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth was about 2$0^{\circ}C$. Based on their mycological characteristics, the fungus was identified as Cladosporium cladosporioides. This is the first report in Korea of the sooty mold of persimmon caused by the said fungus.