INTRODUCTION

Tomato is one of the most profitable crops in the Philippines and is widely cultivated throughout the world. It is the 3rd most important vegetable in the country in terms of volume. However, several fungal species cause diseases on both preharvest and postharvest tomato. Fungi are single-celled or very complex multicellular organisms that are ubiquitous, but they mostly live on the land, mainly in soil or on plant material. They play vital roles in all ecosystems as decomposers, symbionts, and pathogens. One of the many pathogenic fungi includes the Lasiodiplodia species. It is one of the common plant pathogens found in tropical and subtropical regions. It belongs to the Botryosphaeriaceae family and is characterized by mature and dark-brown conidia with thick walls and longitudinal striations.