Abstract
Pulsatilla koreana is a perennial herb of the Ranunculaceae, which is highly valued as a medicinal herb in Asian countries. Since 2012, a Sclerotinia rot disease causing significant damage to P. koreana occurred in production fields of Fushun County, Liaoning Province, China. The fungus infected roots and rhizomes of the host plants, resulting in root rot or plant death in the field. The isolates from P. koreana were identified as Sclerotinia nivalis based on morphological and culture characteristics, pathogenicity and ITS sequence analysis. Optimum temperatures for mycelial growth and sclerotium formation were 20 and 15 °C, respectively. The fungus grew well on all media tested except Czapek. In pathogenicity tests five representative isolates from P. koreana caused typical symptoms and were successfully reisolated from symptomatic tissues. The isolates used caused lesions on unwounded roots, wounding enhanced disease severity. The isolates SN110812, SsSn-24 and Let-19 of S. nivalis from Atractylodes lancea, Sedum sarmentosum and Lactuca sativa had the same effect. The isolates GmS and BcS of S. sclerotiorum from Glycine max and Brassica napus also caused typical symptoms faster and gave the highest disease severity indexes. In view of its serious pathogenicity, S. sclerotiorum has great potential to become another important pathogen of P. koreana.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Li G. Q. of the Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, for providing us with isolates SsSn-24 and Let-19 of S. nivalis.
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Xu, H., Zhou, R., Fu, J. et al. Characterization of Sclerotinia nivalis causing Sclerotinia rot of Pulsatilla koreana in China. Eur J Plant Pathol 143, 1–9 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-015-0660-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-015-0660-5