First report of Sclerotinia rot on Andrographis paniculata in China.

A severe rot was observed on commonAndrographisherb (Andrographis paniculata), also named ‘Chuan Xinlian’, which is a widely used medicinal plant. The disease affected 45–65% of plants growing in different greenhouses in Changping county, Beijing city, China. Disease symptoms began as dark brown and water-soaked lesions, with the eventual development of abundant white mycelia and sclerotia on stems and leaves. The pathogen was isolated from diseased tissues, and was identified asSclerotinia sclerotiorum(Lib.) de Bary based on cultural features, morphological characteristics and molecular analysis. The pathogenicity of the isolated fungus was confirmed from inoculation experiments. This is the first report ofS. sclerotiorumon commonAndrographisherb. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]