Gray Mold on Carrot Caused by Botrytis cinerea in Korea

Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea was found on a carrot seedling in a greenhouse and a field at Daegwallryeong, Gangwon Province in 2007-2009. Symptoms included irregular, brown, blight, or chlorotic halo on leaves and petioles of the carrots. Fungal conidia were globose to subglobose or ellipsoid, hyaline or pale brown, nonseptate, one celled, $7.2-18.2{\times}4.5-11\;{\mu}m$ ($12.1{\times}8.3\;{\mu}m$) in size, and were formed on botryose heads. B. cinerea colonies were hyaline on PDA, and then turned gray and later changed dark gray or brown when spores appeared. The fungal growth stopped at $35^{\circ}C$, temperature range for proper growth was $15-25^{\circ}C$ on MEA and PDA. Carrots inoculated with $1{\times}10^5$ ml conidial suspension were incubated in a moist chamber at $25{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ for pathogenicity testing. Symptoms included irregular, brown, water-soaked rot on carrot roots and irregular, pale brown or dark brown, water-soaked rot on leaves. Symptoms were similar to the original symptoms under natural conditions. The pathogen was reisolated from diseased leaves, sliced roots, and whole roots after inoculation. As a result, this is the first report of carrot gray mold caused by B. cinerea in Korea.