Molecular and Cultural Characterization of Colletotrichum spp. Causing Bitter Rot of Apples in Korea

Colletotrichum contains many important pathogens which cause economically significant diseases of crops like pepper, strawberry, tomato and apple. Forty four isolates were collected to characterize the diversity of Colletotrichum causing apple anthracnose in various regions of Korea. They were analyzed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA and partial $\beta$ -tubulin gene DNA sequence, and culture characteristics on PDA and PDA-Benomyl. From the results of molecular analyses, 31 strains belonged to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, ribosomal DNA group (RG) 4 of Moriwaki et al. (2002), 8 strains belonged to C. acutatum, A2 group of Talhinhas et al. (2005) and 5 strains to C. acutatum, A3 group of Talhinhas et al. (2005). Most isolates of C. gloeosporioides RG4 grew faster on PDA than strains of C. acutatum, A2 and A3 groups and most RG4 strains were sensitive to Benomyl. However, a few strains of RG4 grew slower and were resistant to Benomyl. On the basis of molecular characteristics, apple isolates of C. acutatum were clearly differentiated from red pepper isolates of the species, but apple isolates of C. gloeosporioides were not.