Gray mold
Gray mold / Botrytis cinerea
Gray mold, caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, results in enormous economic losses for strawberry growers. This makes it all the more important for them to have products available to combat this pathogen.
So let us test your product developments in advance.
Efficacy against Botrytis spp. can be tested both in the apple wound test and on strawberry leaves:
An in vivo test system for evaluating the efficacy of formulations against gray mold in strawberries.
In vivo test system using strawberry leaves
This test system provides an initial assessment of the efficacy and applicability of your formulation in a plant system and serves as a preliminary step to field trials. It is also suitable for testing different concentrations or formulations of a product quickly and on a small scale. The conditions are controlled and can be adjusted, within certain limits, to the mechanism of action of your formulation.
In the efficacy test on strawberry leaves, the leaves are artificially inoculated with the pathogen responsible for gray mold (Botrytis spp.) and treated with your formulation at the concentration you specify. Incubation takes place for 5–10 days at room temperature in a humid chamber. A chemical standard and an untreated control allow for the calculation of efficacy rates and the evaluation of your product in comparison to preparations available on the market.
Since resistant gray mold pathogens are becoming increasingly prevalent in strawberry cultivation, it is also possible, upon consultation, to use Botrytis strains with defined resistance profiles in this in vivo test system, for example to investigate synergistic effects.
Germinated spores of the gray mold fungus Botrytis cinerea
In vitro germination test
A germination test provides a quick initial indication of your product’s direct efficacy against Botrytis cinerea. In the test, conidia of the fungus are mixed with the product or pipetted onto agar plates without the test product. Colony growth is observed at 20°C over several days in comparison to an untreated control. This test is particularly suitable for determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).