Occurrence of bulb rot of Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in Korea

In 2007, a bulb rot of Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum Makino caused by Sclerotium rolfsii occurred sporadically in a herb farm at Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. The symptom initiated with water-soaking lesion and progressed into bulb rot and wilt of a whole plant. Severely infected plants were blighted and killed eventually. White mycelial mats appeared on the lesion at early stage and a number of sclerotia were formed on the bulb. The sclerotia were spherical, 1 similar to 3 mm and white to brown. The optimum temperature for the growth and sclerotia formation was 30 degrees C on PDA. The hyphal width was measured 4-9 mu m. The typical clamp connections were observed on PDA. Based on the symptom, mycological characteristics and pathogenicity to the host plant, this fungus was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii Saccardo. This is the first report on the bulb rot of A. victorialis var. platyphyllum caused by S. rolfsii in Korea.