Brown blotted root rot of ginger (Zingiber officinale) caused by Musidium stromaticum

Abstract Brown lesions were found on ginger rhizomes in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, leading to the suspicion of an unknown disease. The filamentous fungus isolated at high frequency from the lesions replicated the disease symptoms upon inoculation, confirming it as the causal agent. Through morphological and molecular analyses, this filamentous fungus was identified as Musidium stromaticum. We propose the name “brown blotted root rot” to describe this new disease of ginger. This study is the first to recognized M. stromaticum as a plant pathogen of ginger globally.