| Botrytis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Botrytis cinerea infection on strawberry | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Leotiomycetes |
| Order: | Helotiales |
| Family: | Sclerotiniaceae |
| Genus: | Botrytis P.Micheli ex Pers. (1794) |
| Type species | |
| Botrytis cinerea Pers. (1794)
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Botrytis is a genus of anamorphic fungi in the family Sclerotiniaceae. Botrytis (also known as grey mold) belongs to the group hyphomycetes and has about 30 different species. It is a plant parasite as well as saprophytes on both agricultural and forest trees. It produces stout, dark, branching conidiophores that bear clusters of paler conidia (grey in mass) on denticles from apical ampullae. It is a common outdoor fungus and can be detected in spore trap samples. The fungus is often found growing on indoor plants. Although no mycotoxin has been reported from this fungus, it may cause hay fever, asthma and keratomycosis.[2] The most common species is B. cinerea, which is a plant pathogen causing gray mould on a very broad range of hosts including some common ornamental plants, such as geranium, begonia, rose, lily, dogwood, rhododendron, dahlia, magnolia, camellia [3][4] and fruits and produce. This fungus is mainly of outdoor origin, although it may be from growth on fruits or flowers brought in from outdoors. Some houseplants can be infected by this fungus, such as cyclamen, poinsettia, chrysanthemum, and gerbera.[4] Other species of Botrytis may be present, such as B. peoniae on peonies, B. squamosa on onion, and B. tulipae on tulips. These species of Botrytis share some common characteristics in pathology and ecology.
The generic name Botrytis is derived from the Greek bótrys ("cluster of", "grapes") and the Latin suffix -itis ("like").[5]
Conidia colorless, gray to pale brown, smooth, ellipsoidal, obovoid, or subspherical, mostly nonseptate. With the presence of a conidiophore, it is not difficult to identify this genus. However, it is a quite challenging to identify its conidia in the samples of spore count. Conidia of this genus are often described as unidentified fungal spores.
Conidiophores gray to brown, straight or flexuous, smooth, branched, often dichotomously or trichotomously, with branch ends often enlarged. A conidiophore forms a long stipe and a dense head.
