Detection and Characterization of Botrytis cinerea Isolates from Vegetables in Egypt

Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic plant pathogen that causes plenty of crop losses in Egypt and worldwide. Fifteen isolates of B. cinerea were collected from cabbage, pepper and lettuce grown in different locations in Egypt and subjected to investigation. Diversity in phenotypic, pathological and molecular characteristics was detected among isolates, leading to categorising them into four different groups. Molecular variation was demonstrated in all isolates by transposable elements (TEs) analyses. Four TE types, based on the presence or absence of two transposable elements, boty and flipper, were recognised among B. cinerea isolates in which transposa type (having both TE, boty + flipper) was predominant (40%), while only boty and only flipper types appeared with distribution values of 26.7 and 20%, respectively and vacuma type (Lacking both TEs) showed the lowest distribution value (13.3%). Furthermore, vacuma population demonstrated the lowest potential comparing to others. A correlation was found between TE type and virulence level of isolate, but no impact of TE type was observed on phenotypic characteristics of B. cinerea. The present study revealed a correlation between the TE type and the isolate virulence, but no correlation was observed between phenotypic characteristic/sensitivity to fenhexamid and TE type