Abstract
The popcorn disease caused by sclerotia forming fungi reduces the productivity of mulberry fruits in world wide. In Korea, only two species (Ciboria shiraiana and Scleromitrula shiraiana) have been reported as the major causal organisms and their morphological features are also largely unknown. Hereby, we report the first identification of another species (i.e. Ciboria carunculoides) in Korea and detailed features of their anamorphic stage. Fungi dominantly associated with sclerotia were purely isolated from infected mulberry fruits under the microscope. PCR-amplified DNA encoding 5.8S rRNA displayed 100% similarity to Ciboria carunculoides. The anamorphic features exhibited the absence of true mycelia. Instead, very short, aseptated, branched conidiophores were directly emerged from sclerotia. Phialides were usually three in number from each conidiophore, ampuliform to navicular in shape, slightly curved and tapering towards the apex. Conidia were produced from phialides and mostly found as one celled, pear shaped, not hyaline with smooth to uneven surface walled. Diversely modified features in phialides formed pseudo-mycelial structures around the host tissue. Combined all, current study is the first report of C. carunculoides isolated in Korea and the foremost detailed description of its anamorph stage.
