177 Introduction Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) is an upright, bushy annual herbaceous plant that belongs to mint family Limaceae. Perilla is native from the Himalayas to Southeast Asia. It is now widely distributed in many regions of the world (Lee and Ohnishi 2003). Since perilla has different bioactive materials, it has been used as an important traditional herbal medicine for treating various diseases, including depression, anxiety, tumor, cough, antioxidant, allergy, intoxication, and some intestinal disorders (Ueda et al. 2002; Ichiishi and Yoshikawa 2004; Lin et al. 2010; Saklani et al. 2011). In Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China, its young leaves are commonly added to sushi, garnishes, and soups or used to wrap cooked food. Its older leaves can also be used as a garnish or flavoring. Its leaves can also be dried for later use. Moreover, perilla seed oil has been shown to be a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids, especially omega-3 linolenic acid (Eckert et al. 2009). Hence, it is also cultivated as commercial oilseed crop in different countries such as Japan, Korea, and northern India. Now, it has also been introduced to Europe, Russia, and USA as an oilseed crop (Choi et al. 1980; Brenner 1993; Negi et al. 2011). According to Korean Statistical Information Service, perilla seed production cultivation area covered about 43,352 ha in 2017 with production quantity of 50,738 metric tons (KOSIS, 2018). In Korea, diseases of perilla are caused by different fungi, including leaf spot caused by Cercospora perillae, gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea, anthracnose caused by Colleto- trichum spp., Sclerotinia rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, rust caused by Coleosporium plectranthi, downy mildew caused by Peronospora perillae, and stem blight caused by Corynespora cassiicola (Cho and Moon 1994; Moon et al. 1998, Kim et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2002; Yun et al. 2007; Lee et al. 2009; J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2019 (June) 22 (2) : 177 ~ 183 DOI No. 10.1007/s12892-019-0115-0 RESEARCH ARTICLE Evaluation of Different Inoculation Methods for Screening of Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight in Perilla Germplasm Tania Afroz 1 , Ho-Sun Lee 1* , Young-Ah Jeon 2 , Jung-Sook Sung 1 , Ju-Hee Rhee 1 , Awraris Derbie Assefa 1 , Jaejong Noh 1 , Aejin Hwang 1 , On-Sook Hur 1 , Na-Young Ro 1 , Jae-Eun Lee 1 , Myung-Chul Lee 1 1 National Agrobiodiversity Center, National Institute of Agricultural Science, Jeonju, 54874, Rep. of Korea. 2 International Technology Cooperation Center, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju 54875, Rep. of Korea Received: April 23, 2019 / Revised: May 27, 2019 / Accepted: May 29, 2019 Ⓒ Korean Society of Crop Science and Springer 2019 Abstract Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight are devastating diseases of perilla that can cause huge loss of perilla production. Screening disease resistant genetic resources is necessary to develop disease-resistant cultivars and conduct related research. The objective of this study was to find suitable inoculation methods for screening of Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight in perilla germplasm. Three different inoculation methods [i.e., detached leaf (agar plug placed on start point of vein, 1/3 point of leaf vein & front side, back side), stem tip, and soil drenching] with three-growth stages (two, four & six-leaf stage) at two different temperatures (20 & 25°C) were assayed for their effectiveness for screening using IT 229019 & Sang-yeop perilla germplasm. Based on disease lesion, 20°C in two-leaf stage with detached leaf method (start point of vein) was found to be an efficient method for screening of Sclerotinia rot whereas 25°C in two-leaf stage with stem tip was an effective method for screening of Phytophthora blight in perilla germplasm. However, stem tip method was laborious as it required more time. Therefore, detached leaf method (start point of vein & back side) was a simple and rapid method that could be preferably used for screening of Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight in perilla germplasm. Key words : Detached leaf, Perilla frutescens, Phytophthora blight, Sclerotinia rot, stem tip Ho-Sun Lee () Email: hosun83@korea.kr Phone: +82632384930 The Korean Society of Crop Science