Environmental conditions affect Botrytis cinerea infection of mature grape berries more than the strain or transposon genotype

Effects of environment, Botrytis cinerea strain, and their interaction on the infection of mature grape berries were investigated. Our data collectively showed that (i) T and RH or WD were more important than strain for mature berry infection by either mycelium or conidia and (ii) the effect of the environment on the different strains was similar. Two equations were developed describing the combined effect of T and RH, or T andWD, on disease incidence following inoculation by mycelium (R2 = 0.99) or conidia (R2 = 0.96), respectively