• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.441-449
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• 2017

Citrus canker is an important bacterial disease of citrus in several regions of the world. Strains of Xanthomonas citri type-A (Xc-A) group are the primary pathogen where citrus canker occurs. After Xc-A entered the Northeast of Argentina in 1974, the disease spread rapidly from 1977 to 1980 and then slowed down and remained moving at slow pace until 1990 when it became endemic. Citrus canker was detected in Northwest Argentina in 2002. This paper presents the main steps in the fight of the disease and the management strategies that have been used to control citrus canker at this time. We think the process might be usefull to other countries with the same situation. Results from more than 40 years of research in Northeast (NE) Argentina indicate that we are at the limit of favorable environment for the disease. The severity of citrus canker is greatly affected by the environment and El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon which causes cyclic fluctuations on the disease intensity in the NE region. Weather-based logistic regression models adjusted to quantify disease levels in field conditions showed that the environmental effect was strongly modulated by the distance from a windbreak. Production of healthy fruits in citrus canker endemic areas is possible knowing the dynamics of the disease. A voluntary Integrated Plan to Reduce the Risk of Canker has been in place since 1994 and it allows growers to export unsymptomatic, uninfested fresh fruit to countries which are free of the disease and require healthy, pathogen free fruits. The experience from Argentina can be replicated in other countries after appropriate trials.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2014

Citrus canker caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) is one of the most important diseases on citrus. Although Satsuma mandarin cultivating mostly in Korea is moderately resistance to canker, occurrence of the disease were more frequently reported since last decade. Like other diseases in citrus, citrus canker was mainly protected by chemical fungicide in the field. Due to the side effect of the chemicals, alternative method of disease control is recently required. In this study four rhizobacterial strains TRH423-3, MRL408-3, THJ609-3 and TRH415-2 are selected by testing its antifungal activity against Xcc. Pre-inoculation with the selected rhizobacterial strains caused disease suppression on the citrus leaves after inoculation with the citrus canker pathogen. Similarly, in the field test symptoms of citrus canker were less developed in the citrus trees applied several times with the selected rhizobacterial strains compared with those of untreated trees. Therefore, it is suggested that the selected rhizobacterial strains may be valuable as an alternative method in the environment-friendly citrus farm.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.486-497
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• 2019

Citrus canker is a devastating disease of citrus caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc). A total of 134 endophytic bacteria were isolated from various gymnospermic and angiospermic plants. They were screened for their antagonistic activities against three wild-type and six streptomycin-resistant Xcc strains. TbL-22 and TbL-26, both later identified as Bacillus thuringiensis, inhibited all the wild and resistant Xcc strains. TbL-22 exerted the highest antagonistic activity against XccW3 and XccM6 with inhibition zones of $20.64{\pm}0.69$ and $19.91{\pm}0.87mm$, respectively. Similarly ethyl acetate extract of TbL-22 showed highest inhibition zones $15.31{\pm}2.08$ and $19.37{\pm}3.17mm$ against XccW3 and XccM6, respectively. TbL-22 reduced canker incidence on infected leaves by 64.05% relative to positive controls. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the cell membranes of Xcc treated with ethyl acetate extract of TbL-22 were ruptured, lysed, and swollen. B. thuringiensis TbL-22 can effectively and sustainably controls streptomycin-resistant citrus canker.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.343-349
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• 2015

Citrus canker caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) is one of the most important bacterial diseases of citrus. Because citrus canker is not found in many countries including European Union and Australia, Xcc is strictly regulated in order to prevent its spread. In this study, the effects of X-irradiation on Xcc growth either in the suspension or on the surface of citrus fruits were investigated. The suspension containing $1{\times}10^7cfu/ml$ of Xcc was irradiated with different absorbed doses of X-irradiation ranging from 50 to 400 Gy. The results showed that Xcc was fully dead at 400 Gy of X-irradiation. To determine the effect of X-irradiation on quarantine, the Xcc-inoculated citrus fruits were irradiated with different X-ray doses at which Xcc was completely inhibited by an irradiation dose of 250 Gy. The $D_{10}$ value for Xcc on citrus fruits was found to be 97 Gy, indicating the possibility of direct application on citrus quarantine without any side sterilizer. Beside, presence of Xcc on the surface of asymptomatic citrus fruits obtained from citrus canker-infected orchards was noted. It indicated that the exporting citrus fruits need any treatment so that Xcc on the citrus fruits should be completely eliminated. Based on these results, ionizing radiation can be considered as an alternative method of eradicating Xcc for export of citrus fruits.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.357-360
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• 2008

Several pathotypes have been recognized in citrus bacterial canker, which causing serious damage in citrus cultivation area. To control the disease, it is important to understand the pathological diversity and reason of difference in virulence of the causal pathogen. We analyzed 124 strains of Xanthomonas causing citrus bacterial canker by southern hybridization with an internal 3.4-kb BamHI fragment from pthA gene. Assuming each band represented an intact gene, each strain of Xanthomonas was estimated to have approximately 1 to 4 copies of pthA gene. X. a. pv. citri A type had more than 3 copies of pthA gene, and the number of pthA gene in X. a. pv. citri $A^*,\;A^w$, and X. a. pv. aurantifolii B, C were different from 1 to 3 according to the strains. When the pthA gene profile was classified into 13 groups according to the number and size of hybridization bands, most of the A types belong to the 3A group, and 4A and 4B type was dominant when they had 4 bands. However, there was no general pattern of difference between the virulence and pthA gene group in this test.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2017

Citrus canker disease decreases the fruit quality and yield significantly, furthermore, emerging of streptomycin-resistant pathogens threatens the citrus industry seriously because of a lack of proper control agents. Small synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) could be a promising alternative. Fourteen hexapeptides were selected by using positional scanning of synthetic peptide combinatorial libraries. Each hexapeptide showed different antimicrobial spectrum against Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, and Candida species. Intriguingly, BHC10 showed bactericidal activity exclusively on Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc), while BHC7 was none-active exclusively against two Pseudomonas spp. at concentration of $100{\mu}g/ml$ suggesting potential selectivity constrained in hexapeptide frame. Three hexapeptides, BHC02, 06 and 11, showed bactericidal activities against various Xcc strains at concentration of $10{\mu}g/ml$. When they were co-infiltrated with pathogens into citrus leaves the disease progress was suppressed significantly. Further study would be needed to confirm the actual disease control capacity of the selected hexapeptides.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.253-256
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• 2003

Citrus canker disease is caused by bacteria Xanthomonas axonopodis .pv. Citri. Shiranuhi cultivar, a hybrid of Kiyomi tangor and Nakano No.3 ponkan was evaluated for resistance to citrus canker based on initiation of disease, percent area of lesion infected and growth rate of bacteria in the leaf under growth chamber condition. Significant differences between susceptible plant and resistant plants were observed in these assays. Resistant plants showed delayed disease symptoms compared to the susceptible plants after spray inoculation of the pathogen. The resistant verities, satsuma, yuzu, and Shiranuhi showed symptoms after six days where as susceptible, mexican lime showed the symptoms just after three days of inoculation. 18 days after inoculation, percent area of lesions developed on leaf and disease severity differed significantly in susceptible and resistant plants, and were ranked as follows: mexican lime > early satsuma =Shiranuhi =yuzu (P <, 0.01). However, 30 days after inoculation, percent area of lesion was further differentiated into resistant and highly resistant plants. That was ranked as follows: sweet orange> early satsuma =Shiranuhi =Kiyomi > yuzu (P < 0.01). These results indicate that host reaction to the bacterial was more distinct when the disease developed for a longer period. Growth rates of a citrus canker bacterium during 16 40 h also were distinct after infiltration into leaves of susceptible and resistant plants, and were ranked as follows: sweet orange> early satsuma =Shiranuhi =Kiyomi =yuzu (P < 0.01). Based on these results, we concluded that Shiranuhi is resistant to citrus canker as compared to Kiyomi, early satsuma, and yuzu.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.205-209
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• 2003

Dispersal of citrus bacterial canker caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri on Unshiu orange was investigated in naturally infested nursery plot at Seogwipo in Jeju island, Korea. Based on phage detection, over 2% of the bacterial pathogen over-wintered in canker lesions and started to multiply in late May. However, symptoms were first observed 1 month after the phage detection. The disease dispersed non-directionally to nearby plants possibly because of indirect dissemination of the bacterium by rain splashes. The disease increased from late June to late August and decreased thereafter. Population of phage increased constantly, however, disease occurrence somewhat fluctuated due to environmental factors. Disease incidence and severity were correlated with rainfall with wind that occurred 14-32 days earlier from late May to late August.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.336-341
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• 2001

The distribution of citrusphages and phage types of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri was investigated in Korea. Forty-eight strains of the bacterial pathogen and 28 bacteriophage strains were isolated from citrus leaves showing the citrus canker symptom. Only a single bacteriophage group, named CPK, was identified based on their aggressiveness to the bacterial pathogen. The bacterial strains were differentiated into two Iysotypes based on their sensitivity to CPK. Lysotype I, which was sensitive to CPK, was more predominant (96%), while only 4% belonged to Iysotype II, which was resistant to CPK. Among the 13 xanthomonads including Iysotype A and Iysotype B of X axonopodis pv. citri, CPKs were only aggressive to BC 83 (=Xc 62) strain of X. axonopodis pv, citri reported as Iysotype A. Thus, bacterial pathogens and citrusphages related to citrus plants mainly distributed in Korea were presumed as Iysotype A of X. axonopodis pv, citri, and Iysotype A-infecting CP$_1$ respectively.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.129-132
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• 2012

Citrus bacterial canker is an economically important disease affecting citrus production in many citrusgrowing areas and several pathotypes have been recognized within the Xanthomonas pathogens causing canker. In view of the containment of the disease, accurate identification of the causal bacterium is important. In this study, triplex PCR method was developed by using the previously reported primers. Two groups of primer combination, such as, one group including primers 2/3, J-pth1/J-pth2 and XACF/XACR, and another group 2/3, J-pth1/J-pth2 and Xac01/Xac02, were suitable for the detection and differentiation of X. a. pv. citri $A^w$, X. a. pv. aurantifolii B and C, and X. a. pv. citrumelo E strains. Moreover, the primer combination of Xac01 and J-pth2 promised us to use as a specific primer set to detect X. a. pv. citrumelo E strain. The PCR methods developed in this study could be used for the rapid differentiation of Xanthomonas pathotypes of citrus.