Occurrence, isolation, and identification of Acidovorax citrulli from Melon in Turkey

Abstract

Horuz S., Cetinkaya-Yildiz R., Mirik M., Aysan Y. (2014): Occurrence, isolation, and identification of Acidovorax citrulli from Melon in Turkey. Plant Protect. Sci., 50: 179-183.During February and August of 2010 and 2011, disease symptoms were detected in melon (Cucumis melo cv. Surmeli) fields and commercial nurseries in Adana and Mersin provinces (Eastern Mediterranean Region, Turkey). Lesions on leaves and fruits were observed in nearly 75 and 85 acres production areas of melon in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Initial symptoms were water-soaked irregular spots, light brown to reddish spots advancing through veins on leaves, small water-soaked lesions, greasy, dark olive green colour areas on the surfaces of melon fruit followed by brown lesions, softening, and cracks. Thirty-five non-fluorescent, slow-growing, round, cream and Gram-negative bacterial isolates were isolated from symptomatic plant materials. The pathogenicity of the isolates was proved using melon seedlings and fruits. According to classical, serological, and molecular assays, the causal organism was identified as Acidovorax citrulli. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report and occurrence of bacterial fruit blotch disease on melon as a new host in Turkey.

Bacterial diversity and composition on the rinds of specific melon cultivars and hybrids from across different growing regions in the United States

“…To date, there is little known about the melon microbiome overall, but specifically only a couple of studies have looked at the bacterial communities present on the rinds, flesh, or stems of melons using non-culturing methods like next generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons or shotgun metagenomics. Previous culture-based methods were successful at isolating bacteria that cause disease in melons [19, 20]. Although there are great methods in place for identifying microorganisms that are culturable, only 1% of bacteria are culturable, leaving about 99% microorganisms unidentified.…”

Development of Molecular Markers for Detection of Acidovorax citrulli Strains Causing Bacterial Fruit Blotch Disease in Melon

“…Thus, the development of efficient, reliable, and sensitive diagnostic tools for detecting A. citrulli strains is necessary [24]. A. citrulli strains were previously detected by differential or semi-selective agar media [25,26], seedling grow-out, sweat box or dome assays [27], carbon source utilization profiles, fatty acid methyl esters and serological assays [28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35], and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra [36]. A self-paired colloidal gold immune chromatographic test strip (Sa-GICS) [37], Raman hyperspectral imaging [38], surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging [34], lateral flow immune chromatographic strip (ICS) [39], cross-priming amplification (CPA)-based isothermal DNA amplification [40], and visual loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) [41] also used for A. citrulli strains detection.…”

Identification of Pathogenicity-Related Genes in Biofilm-Defective Acidovorax citrulli by Transposon Tn5 Mutagenesis

“…Since its first outbreak in 1987 [ 3 ], BFB has broadened its host range worldwide, together with the lack of effective management methods, making it a potentially serious threat to the cucurbit industry [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. During the last several decades, the occurrence of this disease has been widely reported, while a number of studies have been carried out for the identification and detection of the bacterial pathogen [ 11 ]. For example, the ELISA and real-time PCR methods have been widely applied in the detection of this pathogenic bacterium [ 12 , 13 ].…”