Sooty Mold of Persimmon(Diospyros kaki) Caused by Cladosporium cladosporioides

Kwon, Jin Hyeuk; Park, Chang Seuk

The Plant Pathology Journal 2003;19(5):266-268.
Published online October 31, 2003.

Sooty Mold of Persimmon(Diospyros kaki) Caused by Cladosporium cladosporioides

Abstract

In 2002, sooty mold was observed on persimmon (Diopyros kaki) from the Jinju Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Gyeongnam, Korea. The lesion of the sooty mold usually appeared as scars or wounds formed on the surface of the fruits. The symptom started with water soaking lesion, then the fruit softened rapidly. Colony of the causal pathogenic fungus was dark green in color on potato dextrose agar. The diameter of growing hyphae was 1-2 μm. The mostly one-celled conidia were ovoid, lemon or cylinder in shape, blastophores, and sized 46-132 μm. Erected conidiophores were long-branched chains and their lengths varied from 24 to 346 μm with 2-5 μm width. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth was about 20˚C. Based on their mycological characteristics, the fungus was identified as Cladosporium cladosporioides. This is the first report in Korea of the sooty mold of persimmon caused by the said fungus.

Key Words: Cladosporium cladosporioides, persimmon, sooty mold