Project Grant 20236701339164

**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE U.S. RANKS SECOND IN STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE.IN 2020, THE U.S. PRODUCED 2.1 BILLION POUNDS OF STRAWBERRIES, VALUED AT $2.6 BILLION.AMONG COMMON DISEASES ON STRAWBERRIES, GRAY MOLD IS ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNGAL DISEASE ACROSS ALL GROWING REGIONS. UNDER WET CONDITION, MORE THAN 80% LOSSES OF STRAWBERRY FLOWERS AND FRUIT CAN OCCUR WITHOUT PROPER DISEASE MANAGEMENT. CONTROL OF THE DISEASE LARGELY RELIES ON FUNGICIDE APPLICATIONS, DUE TO THE LACK OF SIGNIFICANT RESISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS. THE FUNGUSBOTRYTIS CINEREA, RANKED THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT FUNGAL PATHOGEN BY THE PLANT PATHOLOGY COMMUNITY, WAS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT TO BE THE SOLE CAUSE OF STRAWBERRY GRAY MOLD IN THE U.S. RECENTLY, A NEW SPECIES NAMEDBOTRYTIS FRAGARIAEWAS IDENTIFIED AS A CAUSAL AGENT OF STRAWBERRY GRAY MOLD IN THE U.S. WHILEB. CINEREAHAS BEEN WELL CHARACTERIZED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS,B. FRAGARIAEHAS ONLY BEEN SUBJECTED TO A FEW STUDIES. ALARMINGLY,B. FRAGARIAEHAS ALREADY MADE UP 35% OF THEBOTRYTISPOPULATION IN SOME COMMERCIAL FIELDS ACCORDING TO A PREVIOUS SURVEY. NOTABLY, HIGHER LEVELS OF RESISTANCE HAVE BEEN DETECTED INB. FRAGARIAETO FLUDIOXONIL, A KEY FUNGICIDE ACTIVE INGREDIENT USED FOR STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION. YET, THE RESISTANCE MECHANISM CURRENTLY REMAINS UNKNOWN. THUS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CONDUCT RESEARCH TO ASSESS THE RISK AND FILL THE KNOWLEDGE GAP CONCERNINGB. FRAGARIAE. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE PREVALENCE OFB. FRAGARIAEIN THE NORTHEAST REGION AND CALIFORNIA WITH DIVERSE CLIMATES AND STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. RESISTANCE INB. FRAGARIAETO DIFFERENT CHEMICAL GROUPS OF FUNGICIDES COMMONLY USED FOR STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION WILL ALSO BE TESTED AND THE RESULTS WILL BE SHARED WITH GROWERS IN ORDER FOR THEM TO ADJUST OR IDENTIFY MORE EFFECTIVE SPRAY PROGRAMS. IN ADDITION, EFFORTS WILL BE MADE TO SEQUENCE THE GENOMES OFB. FRAGARIAEPOPULATIONS AND TO CONDUCT DOWN-STREAM BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO DETERMINE POPULATION STRUCTURE OFB. FRAGARIAE, WHICH NOT ONLY PROVIDES AN EVOLUTIONARY INSIGHT INTO THE NEWLY EMERGED SPECIES BUT ALSO INFORMS THE SELECTION OF ISOLATES WITH DIVERSE GENETIC BACKGROUND FOR DIFFERENT RESEARCH ASPECTS INCLUDING FUNGICIDE RESISTANCE. WITH THE AVAILABILITY OF GENOME SEQUENCES, WE WILL LOOK FOR GENETIC TRAITS THAT MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH RESISTANCE TO FLUDIOXONIL INB. FRAGARIAE. MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO MANY FUNGICIDES HAVE BEEN WELL CHARACTERIZED, BUT NOT FLUDIOXONIL. OUR PREVIOUS WORK HAS SUGGESTED A NOVEL MECHANISM UNDERLYING HIGH LEVELS OF RESISTANCE TO FLUDIOXONIL IN SOMEB. FRAGARIAEFIELD ISOLATES. UNDERSTANDING SUCH A MECHANISM WILL THEREFORE HAVE BROAD IMPLICATIONS, AND FACILITATE RESISTANCE DETECTION VIA MOLECULAR TOOLS. ULTIMATELY, THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED WILL BE USED TO DEVELOPE SCIENCE-BASED DISEASE AND FUNGICIDE RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVED SUSTAINABILITY AND PROFITABILITY OF STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION.