Australasian Plant Pathology (2005) 34, 549-555

M.G. Ekins, E.A.B. Aitken and K.C. Goulter (2005)
Identification of Sclerotinia species
Australasian Plant Pathology 34 (4), 549-555
Abstract: A variety of morphological and molecular characters were compared for their ability to separate the three plant pathogenic species that comprise the genus Sclerotinia: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Sclerotinia minor and Sclerotinia trifoliorum. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) probes generated from cloned genomic DNA fragments of S. sclerotiorum were used for accurate species designation and to compare against other markers, before further use in population genetics and breeding studies. Other characters used for comparison included host species, sclerotial diameters, ascospore morphism and breeding type. Several RFLP probes, either singly or in combination, enabled clear separation of the Sclerotinia species. Sclerotial diameters remain a good criterion for separating S. minor from S. sclerotiorum and S. trifoliorum, but the host species criterion was inadequate for accurately differentiating the 3 species of Sclerotinia.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Merrick G. Ekins

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
	Sclerotinia minor
	Sclerotinia trifoliorum