Identification of Botrytis cinerea, the Cause of Post-Harvest Gray Mold on Broccoli in Korea

In this study, we identified the causative agent of post-harvest gray mold on broccoli that was stored on a farmers’ cooperative in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, South Korea, in September 2016. The incidence of gray mold on broccoli was 10-30% after 3-5 weeks of storage at 3°C. Symptoms included brownish curd and gray-to-dark mycelia with abundant conidia on the infected broccoli curds. The fungus was isolated from infected fruit and cultured on potato dextrose agar. To identify the fungus, we examined the morphological characteristics and sequenced the rDNA of the fungus and confirmed its pathogenicity according to Koch’s postulates. The results of the morphological examination, pathogenicity test, and sequencing of the 5.8S rDNA of the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS4) and three nuclear protein-coding genes, G3PDH, HSP60, and RPB2, revealed that the causal agent of the post-harvest gray mold on broccoli was Botrytis cinerea. To our knowledge, this is the first report of post-harvest gray mold on broccoli in Korea.