In March of 2015, severe sooty mold was observed on blueberries cultivated in a farmer’s greenhouses in Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. Typical symptoms included a black or dark brown, superficial fungal growth on the leaves, stems, and fruit of blueberry plants. The fungal colonies on PDA were flat and black. The conidia were dark green in color, globose to sub-globose in shape and 3-5×3-4 μm in size. The ramoconidia were cylindrical and 18-42×3 μm in size. The conidiophores were dark brown, cylindrical-oblong in shape and 42-138×3-4 μm in size. To confirm the identity of the fungus(F130), the 18S rDNA as well as actin and β-tubulin gene sequences were PCR-amplified and sequenced. The pathogenicity of the isolate was then explored on 2-month-old potted blueberry plants. Based on the mycological characteristics, molecular identification, and pathogenicity on host plants, this fungus was identified as Cladosporium sphaerospermum. This is the first report on sooty mold of blueberry caused by C. sphaerospermum in Korea.

ABSTRACT
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
  1 Fungal isolation
  2 Microscopic observations
  3 Pathogenicity tests
  4 Molecular identification
 Results and Discussion
  1 Typical symptoms
  2 Fungal isolation and microscopic observation
  3 Pathogenicity tests
  4 Molecular identification
 References

• Jin-Hyeuk Kwon(Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services)
• Kyoungmi Park(Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services)
• Yeyeong Lee(Department of Plant Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)
• Okhee Choi(Institute of Agriculture & Life Science, Gyeongsang National University)
• Jinwoo Kim(Department of Plant Medicine, Gyeongsang National University/Division of Applied Life Science, Gyeongsang National University/Institute of Agriculture & Life Science, Gyeongsang National University) Corresponding author