Poster

         Mycology & Phycology

Impacts on Growth of Linalool on B.Cinera Isolates

Presenting Author
Melanie Madrigal
Description
Fungal pathogens like Botrytis Cinerea pose a constant threat to agricultural production. Botrytis cinerea can infect a wide variety of crop plants, reducing quality and harvestability at multiple stages of production. Due to B. cinerea's wide host range, developing pesticide applications is a more feasible opportunity for pathogen control than the genetic engineering of resistant crops.  Plant-derived terpenes, like linalool, have demonstrated inhibitive effects on single isolates of B. cinerea. However, few studies have examined the variation in inhibitive properties of terpenes on populations of genetically distinct isolates of B. cinerea. In-vitro cultures of different isolates and growth assays can be used to describe the variation in the inhibition of growth and germination of a selection of genetically distinct botrytis cinerea isolate under varying concentrations of select terpenes. Our results serve to develop plant-derived pesticides as an alternative to other longer-lived pesticides which biomagnify within the environment and hinder ecosystem processes.