Characterization of a brown rot fungus isolated from dwarf flowering almond in Korea

The fruits showing brown rot symptom on dwarf flowering almond were found in Gongju, Chungchungnam-Do in Korea in July 2005. Small water-soaked lesions on the fruits were initiated, and gradually developed to soft rot covered with gray conidia. Then the diseased fruits were shrunk and became grayish-black mummies. A fungus was isolated from the diseased fruit and its morphological, cultural and molecular genetic characteristics were investigated. Typical blastospores of Monilinia spp. were observed under a light microscope both from tissues of the diseased fruits and from PDA-grown cultures. The fungus grew well at 25℃ and on PDA. The ITS ribosomal DNA region (650 bp) of the fungus was amplified by PCR and analyzed. Comparative data on ITS sequence homology among Monilinia spp., ITS sequence-based phylogram and morphological characteristics showed that the fungus is Monilinia fructicola. This is the first report on Monilinia fructicola causing brown rot on fruits of dwarf flowering almond in Korea.