Primer reporte en Venezuela de Botrytis cinerea causando quema foliar en Lisianto (Eustoma grandiflorum) First report of Botrytis cinerea in Venezuela causing leaf blight on Lisianto (Eustoma grandiflorum)

Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) now represents one of the ornamental species with the greatest potential for commercialization in Venezuela, especially in the Andean region. In June of 2006, was detected for the first time the fungus Botrytis cinerea and was isolated from stems and leaves of lisianthus grown in areas of Plan del Morro and La Pedregosa, Libertador Municipality of Merida State. Pathogenicity tests done under greenhouse conditions and subsequent reisolations of the pathogen from artificially infected lisianthus plants; this confirmed that B. cinerea was the causal agent of the foliar blight disease studied. Thirty five days after inoculation, the typical disease symptoms were expressed on all the plants infected experimentally. This is the first report of B. cinerea attacking lisianthus plants in Venezuela.