First Report of Leaf Blight Disease Caused by Fusarium verticillioides (Teleomorph Gibberella moniliformis) in Kentucky Bluegrass

Abstract

Leaf blight symptom caused by Gibberella moniliformis was observed in the seedlings of Kentucky bluegrass (cv. Perfection) in Jinju, Korea, in January 2013. The symptoms first appeared as brown to yellow lesions on leaves, which later became white and bleached. The pathogen was isolated from turfgrass leaves and identified as G.moniliformis by using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1 and ITS4 sequences of rRNA. G.moniliformis was confirmed by a pathogenicity test, and the causal agent was reisolated from infected turfgrass.