Three Sclerotinia species as the cause of white mold on pea in Chongqing and Sichuan of China
DENG Dong1, SUN Su-li1, DU Chen-zhang2, XIANG Chao3, LONG Jue-chen2, CHEN Wei-dong4, ZHU Zhen-dong1
1 Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China 2 Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 402160, P.R.China 3 Crop Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610066, P.R.China 4 United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
White mold of pea caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a common disease in China. However, we discovered that the diverse Sclerotinia species could cause white mold on pea plants in Chongqing and Sichuan of China during recent disease surveys. Thus, the objective of this study was to confirm the causal agents from diseased pea plants. The obtained isolates of white mold from Chongqing and Sichuan were identified by morphological characters and molecular characterization to determine the pathogen species, and their pathogenicity was confirmed on pea through completing Koch’s postulates. Fungal isolates of Sclerotinia-like were obtained from diseased plants or sclerotia. Based on morphological characteristics and molecular characterization, 30 isolates were identified to three species, six isolates as S. minor, seven as S. sclerotiorum, and 17 as S. trifoliorum. In pathogenicity tests on pea cultivars Zhongwan 4 and Longwan 1, all 30 isolates caused typical symptoms of white mold on the inoculated plants, and the inoculated pathogens were re-isolated from the diseased plants. This study confirmed that white mold of pea was caused by three Sclerotinia species, S. sclerotiorum, S. minor and S. trifoliorum in Chongqing and Sichuan. It is the first report that S. minor and S. trifoliorum cause white mold of pea in Southwest China.
Fund: This study was supported by the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-08), the National Crop Germplasm Resources Center of China (NCGRC-2020-09) and the Scientific Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
DENG Dong, SUN Su-li, DU Chen-zhang, XIANG Chao, LONG Jue-chen, CHEN Wei-dong, ZHU Zhen-dong.
2021.
Three Sclerotinia species as the cause of white mold on pea in Chongqing and Sichuan of China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 20(11): 2957-2965.