گروه جدید Botrytis و میزبان جدید برای ایران

Gray mold disease, caused by various species of Botrytis, is a significant threat to important plants worldwide. Species identification was conducted on strawberry and rose hosts (as economic hosts) and raspberry (as a wild plant, which is potentially considered as an alternative host). A total of 389 Botrytis isolates were collected and analyzed based on morphological characteristics and molecular markers. Molecular markers in two groups were used for molecular grouping (TEs, Bc-hch, and mrr1) and phylogenetic analysis (g3pdh, hsp60, nep2, and rpb2). Also, pathogenicity test was performed on strawberry fruits and cucumber cotyledons. The results showed the presence of three separate species, B. cinerea, B. sinoviticola and B. prunorum among the obtained isolates. In addition, isolates belonging to group S were identified, which is the first report of this group in Iran. It is worth mentioning that this study also showed the identification of B. sinoviticola from Iranian strawberry for the first time. Isolates belonging to Botrytis group S did not show any distinguished morphological characteristics. They also belonged to different transposon groups and were able to damage both host plants with different virulence. Although the difference was not statistically significant, the virulence of S group isolates was higher on strawberry compared to cucumber. It should be noted that phylogenetic analysis was not able to separate Botrytis group S from B. cinerea. They also did not cluster with group I isolates (based on Bc-hch analysis) and had only one 21-bp intron in the mrr1 region. Failure to observe any specific morphological features or host specificity is also true for B. sinoviticola. Morphological and molecular studies of different Botrytis species are discussed.