Attachment of Botriosphaeria dothidea Conidiospores to Abiotic Surfaces and Apple Skin

The attachment characteristics of Botriosphaeria dothidea conidiospores on the surfaces of 6 abiotic objects and apple skin were studied. The spores showed various behaviors in surface attachment on different kinds of abiotic objects. Spores were easily attached to parafilm, glass slide and vasiline-coated slide, especially to parafilm, but not so easily attached to polypropylene tape and paraffin-coated slide. The maximum attachment was generally realized about 40 to 60 min after deposition of spores on the surfaces of tested objects except on parafilm where the maximum attachment was at 20 min after spore deposition. On apple lenticel, the spore attached increased sharply when the spore concentration was above 5.0×10^4 spores/mL. From 2.0×10^4 to 5.0×10^4 spores/mL, there was no difference in the number of conidiospores attached on the lenticel. On the non-lenticel surface, spore attachment reached the maximum 20 to 30 mm after spore deposition with a spore concentration no less than 4.0×10^4 spores /mL. ConA was a highly effective inhibitor of spore attachment. Ii effectively blocked spore attachment on apple surface at 100 μg/mL.