Font Size:     

Pestalotiopsis rot caused by Pestalotiopsis clavispora is an important fungal post-harvest disease of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) occur during transit, storage, distribution and responsible to minimize the market value of grapes. In this study, thirteen isolates of P. clavispora were recovered from five different locations of fruit markets located in Rawalpindi and Attock district of Punjab province, Pakistan. During morphological characterization of the pathogen, white, floccose, cottony colonies having black acervuli forming concentric rings were observed. Length and width of conidia ranged from 22.4×5.2 to 33.6×11.3μm; color of conidia was dark umber to olivacious having 4-5 septations. For molecular characterization, two representative highly pathogenic isolates (RP5PL2 and AP231GL5) were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. Sequence comparison revealed 99-100% genetic homology (Accession no. MF448223.1 and MF571908.1) with previously reported isolates of P. clavispora. During, in vitro evaluation thyme essential oil at 0.1% concentration showed significant reduction of 94% in the mycelial growth at 3rd day of incubation. During storage, application of essential oil at 0.1% significantly managed disease. It is concluded that thyme essential oil exhibited good inhibitory action upon P. clavispora and and it might be used for preservation and extension of shelf-life of grapes commercially.