Botrytis cinerea : the cause of grey mould disease

INTRODUCTION: Botrytis cinerea (teleomorph: Botryotinia fuckeliana) is an airborne plant pathogen with a necrotrophic lifestyle attacking over 200 crop hosts worldwide. Although there are fungicides for its control, many classes of fungicides have failed due to its genetic plasticity. It has become an important model for molecular study of necrotrophic fungi. TAXONOMY: Kingdom: Fungi, phylum: Ascomycota, subphylum: Pezizomycotina, class: Leotiomycetes, order: Helotiales, family: Sclerotiniaceae, genus: Botryotinia. HOST RANGE AND SYMPTOMS: Over 200 mainly dicotyledonous plant species, including important protein, oil, fibre and horticultural crops, are affected in temperate and subtropical regions. It can…