PRO/PL> Bacterial stem rot, pepper - Italy (Sardinia)

[Brian Edmonds]

BACTERIAL STEM ROT, PEPPER - ITALY (SARDINIA)
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Date: 1 Apr 2004
From: ProMED-mail <promed at promedmail.org>
Source: Journal of Phytopathology Vol. 152 (1) [edited]

Bacterial Stem Rot in Greenhouse Pepper (_Capsicum annuum_ L.) in Sardinia 
(Italy): Occurrence of _Erwinia carotovora_ subsp. carotovora_

M. Fiori <fiorim at uniss.it> and A. Schiaffino Dipartimento di Protezione 
delle Piante, Universita degli studi di Sassari, Via E. De Nicola, 07100 
Sassari, Italy.

An unusual bacterial disease was observed in pepper plants during research 
carried out in greenhouses in central-north Sardinia. The characteristics 
were the presence of lesions and exudates on stems, pit soft rot, and a 
brownish-black color in the petioles and leaf veins.

Only 2 of 21 isolates were pathogens. 1 was obtained from exudate present 
on the stem and the other from pith. Experimental infections revealed that 
the bacterial isolates were particularly aggressive in the stems and fruit 
of pepper and tomato.

Biochemical, physiological and serological tests, in conjunction with fatty 
acid profile analysis, confirmed that they were _Erwinia carotovora_ subsp. 
_carotovora_ (Jones) Bergey et al. The product of 434-bp polymerase chain 
reaction (PCR) enabled a preliminary identification of isolates to be made.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of amplification 
products showed that isolates DPP 23ef and DPP 24m, strain type CFBP 2046 
and DPP 281, isolated from pepper fruit, belonged to RFLP group 12, whereas 
DPP 29, also isolated from pepper fruit, was included in RFLP group 1.

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[Taxonomic studies indicate that Ecc can be transferred to the new genus 
_Pectobacterium_ (_P. carotovorum_ subsp. _carotovorum_, Pcc). Thus Ecc and 
Pcc are synonyms. Ecc is ubiquitous, causing disease in glasshouse crops 
and appears to be present at low frequency in various regions of Italy. 2 
pepper isolates of Ecc characterized in this report were pathogenic in 
tomato, thus possibly putting that crop at risk. Diagnosis of the disease 
requires careful analysis, because the tomato pith pathogen, _Pseudomonas 
corrugata_ can be confused with Ecc. Ecc survives readily in field residues.

Disease management depends upon use of hypochlorite-treatment of seeds, 
avoidance of wounding, and early detection of the pathogen. Should an 
outbreak occur in glasshouse production units, all plants should be 
destroyed, and the crop should be treated with fixed copper sprays. At the 
close of production, all plant residues should be removed and subjected to 
solarization for at least 45 days during summer. - Mod.DH]
.......................................dh/msp/pg/dk

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