Characterization of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni from Prunus spp. orchards in Western Balkans

Abstract

The present study provides a new insight into the existing Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap) bacterial population originating from peach and apricot in two Western Balkans countries (Serbia and Montenegro). Multilocus sequence typing and analysis of the sequences of nine housekeeping genes revealed homology between the tested Xap strains as well as with the European population of this bacterium. The tested strains share the same haplotype (Haplotype I) with the Xap strains from Italy, France, Spain, United States, Australia and Brazil. The revealed single nucleotide change (G ↔ C) in the sequences of the gyrB1 gene differentiates Haplotype I from Haplotype II (Xap from South Korea, New Zealand, Argentina and Uruguay). The detached‐leaf bioassay results confirmed differences in virulence between strains originating from peach and apricot towards Prunus armeniaca (apricot), indicating host specialization of the apricot strain towards this host. For the first time, immunity of P. fruticosa (European ground cherry) to Xap was established. According to the AUDPC, PCA and cluster analysis, other Prunus spp. were classified as having low susceptibility (P. mahaleb, P. cerasus and P. avium), as susceptible (P. domestica) and as highly susceptible (P. persica, P. dulcis, P. cerasifera and P. spinosa). Xap strains were also found to be susceptible to 10 tested antibiotics. This study provides valuable knowledge on the Xap population from stone fruit grown in the Western Balkans region as well as the source of immunity, which could serve as a starting point for breeding Prunus cultivars and could be used as the main control strategy.

Biological control of major pathogenic bacteria of potato by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strains SS-12.6 and SS-38.4

“…The area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was calculated using the mean values of tuber's weights rated 1, 5, and 15 DAT according to the formula given by Iličić et al (2023).…”

Phylogeographic Analysis of Soft-Rot-Causing Pectobacterium spp. Strains Obtained from Cabbage in Serbia

“…The use of TCS haplotype networks for the determination of phylogeography of other soft-rot-causing bacteria (e.g., P. brasiliense and Dickeya dianthicola ) was previously demonstrated in the work performed by Marković et al [ 16 ] on strains isolated from potato in Serbia, based on concatenated sequences of four housekeeping genes ( acnA , icdA , gapA , and mdh ). Thus far, the TCS algorithm has been successfully applied for providing a phylogeographic insight into the population diversity of bacterial species belonging to different genera, such as Xanthomonas [ 17 , 18 ], Pseudomonas [ 19 ], Agrobacterium [ 20 ], Ralstonia [ 21 ], and Clavibacter [ 22 ].…”