First Report of Web Blight of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG-1-IB in Korea

Herein, we report the first occurrence of web blight of rosemary caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG-1-IB in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Korea, in August 2014. The leaf tissues of infected rosemary plants were blighted and white mycelial growth was seen on the stems. The fungus was isolated from diseased leaf tissue and cultured on potato dextrose agar for identification. The young hyphae had acute angular branching near the distal septum of the multinucleate cells and mature hyphal branches formed at an approximately 90 degrees angle. This is morphologically identical to R. solani AG-1-IB, as per previous reports. rDNA-ITS sequences of the fungus were homologous to those of R. solani AG-1-IB isolates in the GenBank database with a similarity percentage of 99%, thereby confirming the identity of the causative agent of the disease. Pathogenicity of the fungus in rosemary plants was also confirmed by Koch's postulates.