Seedling Rot of Kamchatka Goatsbeard Caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG-1(IB)

In July 2021, we surveyed diseases affecting wild vegetables grown in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, Korea. During this survey, we observed severe seedling rot symptoms in Kamchatka goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) grown in a vinyl greenhouse. The incidence of the disease in the plant seedlings was 1-10%. Diseased seedlings from this population were collected, and fungi were isolated from leaf and petiole lesions. Rhizoctonia sp. was consistently isolated from the lesions. We examined the morphological and cultural characteristics and anastomosis groups of nine Rhizoctonia sp. isolates obtained from the lesions. The results revealed that all isolates corresponded to Rhizoctonia solani AG-1(IB). Three isolates of R. solani AG-1( IB) were evaluated to determine their pathogenicity towards Kamchatka goatsbeard seedlings through artificial inoculation. The tested isolates caused rot symptoms on the inoculated plant seedlings. The symptoms were similar to those observed in plant seedlings from the vinyl greenhouse. We found that R. solani AG-1(IB) caused seedling rot of Kamchatka goatsbeard.