Vegetative Compatibility Grouping of Sclerotinia homoeocarpa Isolates Infecting Turfgrass in South Korea

Abstract

Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, the causal agent of dollar spot, is one of the most common pathogens of cool season turfgrasses in South Korea. The vegetative compatibility group (VCG) assay was carried out using nitratenonutilizing (nit) mutants recovered from 13 South Korean isolates with various geographical origins. The mutants were divided into four phenotypic classes based on mutation loci associated with nitrogen assimilation: nit1, nit2, nit3,and NitM. The recovered number of nit mutants greatly varied among the isolates, ranging from 0 to 15 mutants. Of the mutants isolated, nit1 and nit2 mutants were most common (80%) while NitM and nit3 were relatively rare. One dominant and four minor VCGs were determined from 18 mutant isolates tested. To study population structures of Korean S. homoeocarpa isolates and increase our understanding of its ecological and epidemiological aspects for dollar spot management on turfgrass, more generated mutants should be tested with more diverse isolate collections.