First Report of Crown Gall of Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) Caused by Agrobacterium fabacearum in China and the Establishment of Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Technique

Abstract

Kiwifruit is moderately sweet and sour and quite popular among consumers; it has been widely planted in some areas of the world. In 2019, the crown gall disease of kiwifruit was discovered in the main kiwifruit-producing area of Guizhou Province, China. This disease can weaken and eventually cause the death of the tree. The phylogeny, morphological and biological characteristics of the bacteria were described, and were related to diseases. The pathogenicity of this species follows the Koch hypothesis, confirming that A. fabacearum is the pathogen of crown gall disease of kiwifruit in China. In this study, Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) analysis for genome-specific gene sequences was developed for the specific detection of A. fabacearum. The detection limit of the LAMP method is 5 × 10−7 ng/μL, which has high sensitivity. At the same time, the amplified product is stained with SYBR Green I after the reaction is completed, so that the amplification can be detected with the naked eye. LAMP analysis detected the presence of A. fabacearum in the roots and soil samples of the infected kiwifruit plant. The proposed LAMP detection technology in this study offers the advantages of ease of operation, visibility of results, rapidity, accuracy and high sensitivity, making it suitable for the early diagnosis of crown gall disease of kiwifruit.

Biocontrol potential of Bacillus subtilis CTXW 7-6-2 against kiwifruit soft rot pathogens revealed by whole-genome sequencing and biochemical characterisation

“…Kiwifruit originated in China and is commonly grown in New Zealand, the USA, Chile, and some European countries, making it an economically important fruit with great potential for development. Owing to the industry’s rapid development, diseases have become increasingly prominent during the cultivation, harvesting, and storage of kiwifruit, including crown gall ( He et al, 2021 ), bacterial canker ( Song et al, 2019 ), blossom blight ( Balestra et al, 2008 ), leaf spot disease ( Chen et al, 2022a ), and soft rot ( Wang et al, 2021 ). Among them, soft rot is the most common disease during the storage and sale of kiwifruit.…”

Rapid Detection and Quantification of Viable Cells of Pectobacterium brasiliense Using Propidium Monoazide Combined with Real-Time PCR

“…Contaminated or infected tissue from seeds and plant debris is considered the main source of soft rot inoculum [12,13]. Detecting Pbr at an early stage can greatly aid the prevention of outbreaks, as seed transmission remains one of the primary methods by which a plant becomes infected with this disease [8,14,15].…”