Sclerotinia

The fungus Sclerotinia spp. is commonly found in crop fields and farms due to its pathogenic behaviour. 

 Life Cycle 
Sclerotinia spp. commonly form sclerotia, which are found in the soil, usually only up to 15 cm deep, and are hard masses of mycelium. For sclerotia, pH, temperature and moisture of the soil has little to no importance when it comes to sclerotia.Adams, P. B., and W. A. Ayers. "Ecology of Sclerotinia species." Phytopathology 69.8 (1979): 896-899.

During the right season and when the temperature and moisture is right, sclerotia form apothecia. Which then leads to the creation of ascopores in the environment.

Then such ascopores infect leaves, stems and various parts of the crop, impeding the transportation of nutrients through the plant, and decomposing it.

 Moisture and Temperature 
Moisture tension and temperature interact to affect apothecial production. Apothecia and ascopores are produced from sclerotia if the top 2-3 cm of the soil is maintained saturated. The ascopores need moisture in the air at all times otherwise there will be no observation of infection at all.

 Habitat 
The genus of Sclerotinia usually contains species which are most often found in the soil in the form of sclerotia. Wet moist marshlands are populated with the genus.

 Taxonomy 
Sclerotinia is a genus of fungi in the family Sclerotiniaceae. The widely distributed genus contains over 250 species, both which contain pathogenic and non-pathogenic species in the genus

References

Category:Fungi