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Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliensis and Pectobacterium parmentieri as causal agents of potato blackleg and soft rot in China

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Abstract

In this study, potato plants displaying symptoms of blackleg and soft rot were collected in Guangdong Province, China, and the causative bacterial pathogens were isolated from symptomatic tissues. In total, five pathogenic isolates (Po-2, Po-3, Po-4, Po-10, and Po-11) were selected and preliminarily identified as Pectobacterium spp. based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and detection of the pectate-lyase gene using species-specific primers. Physiological and biochemical tests revealed that the five isolates grew at 37 °C, utilized D-galactose, D-lactose, maltose, melibiose, raffinose, sodium citrate, sucrose and trehalose, but not inosine, inulin, malonate, sorbitol and were sensitive to erythromycin. All isolates were negative for acid production from α-methyl glucoside and production of reducing substances from sucrose. In addition, Po-2, Po-3, and Po-4 utilized Tween 80 and produced indole but did not utilize arabinose, while Po-10 and Po-11 did not use Tween 80 and did not produce indole but utilized arabinose. Pathogenicity assays showed that Po-2, Po-3, and Po-4 infected 32 plant species across 19 families, while Po-10 and Po-11 infected 24 species from 17 families. 16S rDNA and phylogenetic analysis based on eight housekeeping genes (acnA, gapA, icdA, mdh, mtlD, pgi, proA, and rpoS) showed that Po-2, Po-3, and Po-4 clustered with Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliensis assignments confirmed using specific primer sets BR1f/L1r, while Po-10 and Po-11 clustered with Pectobacterium parmentieri. This is the first detailed report on P. carotovorum subsp. brasiliensis and P. parmentieri as causative agents of potato blackleg and soft rot in China.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Tamsin Sheen, PhD, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Editing China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China(201303015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Wen Li-ping, Zhong Min, Ren Min-hua, Li Xing-wei & Liu Qiong-guang

  2. Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Liu Qiong-guang

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  1. Wen Li-ping
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Correspondence to Liu Qiong-guang.

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all authors have received research grants from College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; and Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, Guangzhou, China. All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Li-ping, W., Min, Z., Min-hua, R. et al. Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliensis and Pectobacterium parmentieri as causal agents of potato blackleg and soft rot in China. J Plant Pathol 102, 871–879 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-020-00597-0

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