The potential for resistance to Botrytis cinerea by kiwifruit

Botrytis cinerea (Pers.: Fr.) is the major post-harvest pathogen of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa var. deliciosa cv. Hayward (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson). It causes the disease commonly known as stem-end rot or grey mould. Current control of this pathogen by pre-harvest fungicide application is inadequate due to fungicide resistance and an inability to target the infection site created at the point of harvest. Host resistance represents a more environmentally sound approach, but requires long-term research to realise its full potential. In this review, components of host resistance are described and their relevance to the kiwifruit-B. cinerea interaction is discussed to highlight those areas which merit further study. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.