Abstract
Lilies are grown for various purposes and rank among the top flower bulbs and cut flowers globally. Botrytis blight impacts lilies in almost all cultivation areas and is regarded as the primary foliar disease affecting Lilium spp. Botrytis elliptica is considered a limiting factor in the cultivation of ornamental lilies, being one of the most common Botrytis species impacting Lilium spp, together with B. cinerea. In the current study is described the isolation and identification of B. elliptica from Lilium sp. in Bulgaria. Manifestation of the disease include oblong purple-brown lesions on the leaves and crown rot. Initially, on potato dextrose agar (PDA) B. elliptica formed white colonies which turn gray with the aging of the mycelia and black sclerotia appear in older cultures. The ITS region sequences of isolate Krem Pernik are 100% identical to those of B. elliptica isolates deposited in the NCBI GenBank. The conidiospores are predominantly ovoid and ellipsoid, smooth, and translucent with average size of 23.95 µm in length and 17.61 µm in width, with a corresponding ratio of 1.37. The established general growth temperatures for B. elliptica isolate are as follows: minimal above 5°C, optimal 20°C and maximum below 30°C. The isolate form necrotic lesions on Lilium leaves, but not on Capsicum annum. The presence of economically important pathogen on Lilium is confirmed in Bulgaria, based on morphology, molecular and pathogenicity tests.
Keywords: Lilium fire blight, disease symptoms, grow temperatures, pathogenicity