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Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. actinidiae associated with canker on pear trees in Brazil

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Abstract

In summer of 2016, cankers were observed on 8-year-old pear trees (Pyrus communis L.) cv. Yali grafted on the Caleriana rootstock, in a commercial orchard in Monte Castelo, SC. Eight hundred out of 1200 trees died and the rest of the orchard was eradicated. Affected plants showed cankers on trunks and twigs with exudation; the branches turned brown and slowly died. Bacterial colonies were isolated on King’s B medium from infected tissues. Pathogenicity, biochemical tests were conducted and some isolates selected for whole genome sequencing using Ion Personal Genome Machine™ (PGM™) System (ThermoFisher Scientific). PCR with Y1/Y2 and PcaF/PcaR primers, specific for Pectobacterium carotovorum and Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. actinidiae, respectively, were also carried out. The section of inoculated apple and pear branches showed longitudinal darkening, with wilt and leaf blight. Shoots of kiwifruit Actinidia deliciosa cv. Hayward inoculated with the bacterium showed no symptoms. The bacterium was re-isolated from all symptomatic tissues, satisfying Koch’s postulates. Selected isolates were gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped and exhibited a strong pectolytic activity in potato and carrot disks, and showed similar biochemical profile using a BIOLOG GEN III MicroPlate. The pathogen of the symptoms observed on pear trees in Brazil show highest genome (87.1%; DDH analysis) and proteome identity (99.8%; Patric analysis) with P. carotovorum subsp. actinidiae. A product of the expected size was obtained in both specific PCR (Y1/Y2 (434 bp) and PcaF/PcaR (343 bp) primer pairs). Results from the present study clearly show that P. carotovorum subsp. actinidiae was associated with canker on pear trees in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thanks Dr. Leighton Pritchard from Information and Computing Sciences Group; Weeds, Pests and Diseases; James Hutton Institute for critical review of whole genome sequence; Arthur Oliveira Souza, Iran Souza Oliveira, Josinei Antônio Tissi, Julie Zanin and Juliane Fernandes for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Fitopatologia , Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária e Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina (EPAGRI), CEP, São Joaquim, Santa Catarina, 86600-000, Brazil

    Leonardo Araujo

  2. Laboratório de Diagnóstico Fitossanitário e Consultoria, Agronômica, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP 91530-000, Brazil

    Yuliet Franco Cardoza & Valmir Duarte

  3. Faculdade de Agronomia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 91540-000, Brazil

    Marcelo Gravina de Moraes

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  1. Leonardo Araujo
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  2. Yuliet Franco Cardoza
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  3. Valmir Duarte
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  4. Marcelo Gravina de Moraes
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The authors certify that we do not have any actual or potential conflict of interest. The study presented here is original and has not been published previously. All authors have reviewed the manuscript and approved its final version before submission.

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Correspondence to Leonardo Araujo.

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The authors certify that we do not have any actual or potential conflict of interest. The study presented here is original and has not been published previously. All authors have reviewed the manuscript and approved its final version before submission.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Araujo, L., Cardoza, Y.F., Duarte, V. et al. Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. actinidiae associated with canker on pear trees in Brazil. Eur J Plant Pathol 159, 219–226 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-020-02123-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-020-02123-5

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