First Report of Macrophomina phaseolina Causing Charcoal Rot in Bottle Gourd in Korea

Stem blight symptoms were observed in greenhouse-grown bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) in Wanju, Korea. Infected plants showed leaf chlorosis and wilting; the plants eventually died with the infected leaves remaining attached, and black sclerotia formed on the diseased stem. Based on the morphological characteristics and pathogenicity results and sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer, translation elongation factor 1-α, β-tubulin, and calmodulin regions, the isolated fungus was Macrophomina phaseolina. This is the first report of charcoal rot in Lagenaria siceraria caused by Macrophomina phaseolina in Korea.