RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Pilidium lythri Is Associated with Bunch Rot of Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) JF American Journal of Enology and Viticulture JO Am J Enol Vitic. FD American Society for Enology and Viticulture SP 410 OP 416 DO 10.5344/ajev.2018.17093 VO 69 IS 4 A1 Olga Aguín A1 Vanesa Ferreiroa A1 Jesús M. González-Jartín A1 Amparo Alfonso A1 Luis M. Botana A1 J. Pedro Mansilla A1 María J. Sainz YR 2018 UL http://www.ajevonline.org/content/69/4/410.abstract AB Bunch rot of Vitis vinifera is frequently caused by a complex of filamentous fungi. In a study on non-Botrytis fungi associated with bunch rot at harvest in northwestern Spain, rotting berries showing pink masses were observed in bunches of V. vinifera Albariño in one vineyard that experienced prolonged warm, moist conditions before harvest. The aim of this work was to identify the fungal species and determine its pathogenicity on grapes. Fungal isolates not corresponding morphologically to any known genus associated with bunch rot were obtained from the pink masses. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that the isolates belonged to Pilidium lythri, an opportunistic pathogen causing tan-brown rot on strawberry. Most frequent non-Botrytis grape-rotting fungi at the vineyard were Penicillium brevicompactum, Penicillium expansum, and Talaromyces purpurogenus, while P. lythri had a low isolation frequency. Pathogenicity tests showed that P. lythri caused tan-brown rot in berries of the V. vinifera table grape varieties Regal Seedless and Red Globe. That P. lythri can directly infect healthy grape berries suggests that it may be a true pathogen associated with bunch rot on grapevine. Its presence on berries may contribute to postharvest decay of table and wine grapes.