Phenotypic Characterization of Iranian Strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae van Hall, the Causal Agent of BacterialCanker Disease of Stone Fruit Trees

Authors
M. Mohammadi 1
A. Ghasemi 2
H. Rahimian 3
1 Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran
2 Plant Pest & Disease Research Institute, AREEO, Ministry of Agriculture, P.O. Box 1454,Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran,19395.
3 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Mazandaran, Sari, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
A total of twenty seven bacterial strains were isolated from cankerous tissues of apricot,
nectarine, peach, plum, sour cherry and sweet cherry trees in Tehran province and identified
as Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss), the causal agent of the bacterial canker
disease, on the basis of LOPAT (levan production, oxidase test, potato rot, arginine dihydrolase
and tobacco hypersensitive reaction) and GATTa's (gelatin liquefaction, aesculin
hydrolysis, tyrosinase activity and Na-tartrate utilization) group tests. Pss strains showed
slight differences in morphology, phenotypic (biochemical and physiological) characteristics,
serological properties, plasmid DNA and cellular protein profiles and antibiogram.
They were divided into three distinct groups based on hippurate and formate utilization
which was correlated with protein profile in SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis). The virulence of Pss was significantly associated with
the degree of necrosis on immature sweet cherry fruits and the rate of in vitro syringomycin
production.

Keywords

Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume 3, Issue 1
January and February 2001
Pages 51-65