Identification of the pathogen causing branch blight of Ilex Asprella

Branch blight was a very important disease in Ilex asprella，occurring mainly in Pingyuan，Maoming of Guangdong province in recent years. Isolation and pathogenicity test of the pathogen of branch blight of I. asprella were carried out based on Koch’s postulation. For a molecular identification，18S-28S rDNA internal transcribed spacer（ITS）region was amplified from the pathogen with primers ITS1 and ITS4，obtaining a PCR product of 600 bp. A BLAST search in GenBank revealed the highest similarity（99%-100%）to the sequences of Botryosphaeria dothidea strains. Therefore，the pathogen causing branch blight of I. asprella was preliminarily identified as Botryosphaeria dothidea.