Botrytis squamosa - the causal agent of onion leaf blight in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Over the past several decades, necrotic spots, lesions and blight symptoms have been observed on onion leaves in several locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the crop is grown intensively. The type of symptoms indicated a possible infection with Botrytis squamosa, a widespread pathogen of onion. As symptoms of leaf spots and necrotic lesions can also be caused by some other biotic and abiotic factors, our research focused on identifying the causal agent of the observed symptoms. The pathogen was isolated from diseased tissue using standard phytopathological procedure and identified based on pathogenic and morphological features. Identification was confirmed by amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA). The influence of temperature and growth medium on mycelial growth rate of the isolates was also studied.