Characterization of Botrytis cinerea and B . prunorum From Healthy Floral Structures and Decayed ‘Hayward’ Kiwifruit During Post-Harvest Storage

Gray mold is the primary postharvest disease of ‘Hayward’ kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) in Chile, with a prevalence of 33.1% in 2016 and 7.1% in 2017. Gray mold develops during postharvest storage, which is characterized by a soft, light to brown watery decay that is caused by Botrytis cinerea and B. prunorum. However, there is no information on the role of B. prunorum during the development and storage of kiwifruit in Chile. For this purpose, asymptomatic flowers and receptacles were collected throughout fruit development and harvest from five orchards over two seasons in the Central Valley of Chile. Additionally, diseased kiwifruits were selected after storage for 100 days at 0°C and 2 days at 20°C. Colonies of Botrytis sp. with high and low conidial production were consistently obtained from apparently healthy petals, sepals, receptacles, and styles and diseased kiwifruit. Morphological and phylogenetic analysis of three partial gene sequences encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, heat shock protein 60, and DNA-dependent RNA polymerase subunit II were able to identify and separate B. cinerea and B. prunorum species. Consistently, B. cinerea was predominantly isolated from all floral parts and fruit in apparently healthy tissue and diseased kiwifruit. During full bloom, the highest colonization by B. cinerea and B. prunorum was obtained from petals, followed by sepals. In storage, both Botrytis species were isolated from the diseased fruit (n = 644), of which 6.8% (n = 44) were identified as B. prunorum. All Botrytis isolates grew from 0°C to 30°C in vitro and were pathogenic on kiwifruit leaves and fruit. Notably, B. cinerea isolates were always more virulent than B. prunorum isolates. This study confirms the presence of B. cinerea and B. prunorum colonizing apparently healthy flowers and floral parts in fruit and causing gray mold during kiwifruit storage in Chile. Therefore, B. prunorum plays a secondary role in the epidemiology of gray mold developing in kiwifruit during cold storage.