Botrytis cinerea is called the grey mold, as it covers the decayed tissues with conidiophores.

Allergen Exposure

B. cinerea is found regularly in the soil, though its proportion of the total fungus population is not high. It can be parasitic on a wide range of plants, causing blight or rot of leaves, flowers and fruits. It is called the grey mold, as it covers the decayed tissues with conidiophores, e.g. grey mold of cabbage or lettuce, tomato. It is especially seen in connection with soft fruits, e.g. strawberries and grapes.

Clinical Experience

Positive skin test reactions have been seen in several mold-sensitive patients, indicating its importance as a mold allergen. In Sweden, a panel of 1250 patients having "allergy-related" complaints was skin prick tested with B. cinerea and it induced a strong reaction in 50% of the the mold-sensitized patients (1).

 

Review
B. cinerea has a worldwide distribution but occurs mainly in humid, temperate and subtropical regions. B. cinerea is found regularly in the soil, though its proportion of the total fungus population is not high. It can be parasitic on a wide range of plants, causing blight or rot of leaves, flowers and fruits. It is called the grey mold, as it covers the decayed tissues with conidiophores, e.g. grey mold of cabbage or lettuce, tomato. It is especially seen in connection with soft fruits, e.g. strawberries and grapes.

 

Positive skin test reactions have been seen in several mold-sensitive patients, indicating its importance as a mold allergen. In Sweden, a panel of 1250 patients having "allergy-related" complaints was skin prick tested with B. cinerea and it induced a strong reaction in 50% of the the mold-sensitized patients (1). IgE antibodies against Botrytis are frequent.

 

Kauffman and coworkers (2) have studied the allergenic properties of Botrytis cinerea where they found IgE- binding components in both early- and late-phase antigens.