NYS IPM Botrytis Fruit Rot. Although berries of all grape varieties are susceptible to bunch rot, losses generally are greater on tight-clustered varieties of Vitis vinifera and French Hybrids. Botrytis cinerea, the agent of grey mould in cyclamen, attacks plants at all stages of development.. Climatic conditions for cyclamen growing 15ºC to 20°C (59ºF to 68ºF) are ideal conditions for the spread of this fungus. On potatoes, B. cinerea can be seed-borne and develop from mycelium on the mother tuber. cinerea produces asexual conidia on conidiophores that are formed directly from hyphae. Botrytis cinerea is a “weak” pathogen that primarily attacks succulent, dead, injured, or senescent tissue. Besides chemical controls, excellent results may … The mycelium present in the debris begins to develop when temperatures increase, for example in early spring. Gray mold of grape, also known as Botrytis bunch rot, is a fungal disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea.It’s one of the most important diseases of grapes in the world, which can cause serious losses in grape yields.The fungus can occur anytime during the growing season, but most commonly occurs near the harvest time. Management. Cultural management and sanitation are the primary control methods. INTRODUCTION. The disease is often referred to as gray mold because it produces abundant fuzzy gray spores on the surfaces of infected tissues. Botrytis blight or gray mold is a fungus disease which infects a wide array of herbaceous annual and perennial plants. A plant pathogen of high relevance and with a striking life cycle is Botrytis cinerea, the causal agent of gray mold diseases in more than 500 plant species (Elad et al., 2016) (Fig. Bunch rot can cause serious losses on highly susceptible grape varieties. Pathogen life cycle and conditions for disease: The causal organism, Botrytis cinerea, is not specific to grapevines; it attacks many cultivated and wild plants. This fungus is very common in nature and causes diseases on a variety of unrelated crops. ... Life Cycle. Gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) and its many strains cause death on flower parts, leaves, buds, shoots, seedlings and fruits. Disease Cycle The fungus overwinters as sclerotia (Figure 7) or mycelium in plant debris. Botrytis cinerea is an unspecialized necrotrophic fungus that produces grayish masses of mycelium, conidiophores, and conidia on the surface of rotted tissues. The disease often over-winters on … In Michigan with such a … Early development of gray mold usually starts in infected plant debris from previous crops, which have been left in the field. In the spring, the fungal spores are dispersed from plant debris via wind and splashing water. Herbaceous plants and woody plants can be attacked. As in other necrotrophic fungi, infection results in cell death, damage to plant tissue and eventually in a soft rot or ‘grey mould’ of the crop or harvested product (Prins et al., 2000).In contrast to many other plant pathogenic fungi, B.