Isolation, identification and artificial inoculation of Rhizoctonia solani on pear during storage

Pear is a fruit crop of worldwide importance and cold storage is an integral part of the production and distribution of pears. An uncharacterized fungal disease has been observed on 'Huangguan' pear fruit during cold storage in Hebei Province. The fungus was consistently isolated from diseased fruit by routine tissue separation method, and shown to be the causal agent according to Koch postulates. Based on its morphology, molecular characteristics, pathogenicity and ITS sequence, the fungus was identified as Rhizoctonia solani. This study recorded postharvest fruit rot caused by Rhizoctonia solani on pear fruit in China.