ARS | Publication request: First report of the crucifer pathogen Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis causing bacterial blight on radish (Raphanus sativus) in Germany

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 13, 2012
Publication Date: June 1, 2012
Citation: Rubio, I., Hiddink, G., Asma, M., Bull, C.T. 2012. First report of the crucifer pathogen Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis causing bacterial blight on radish (Raphanus sativus) in Germany. Plant Disease. 96:904.

Interpretive Summary: Crucifer production represents a 370 million dollar industry in Monterey County California and helps growers supply healthy green vegetables to US markets. Plant pathogens limit the supply of crucifers to consumers and profits of producers. Prior to this research a bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis had only been reported from crucifer production in the U.S., Greece and Australia. In this study we demonstrate that this pathogen was also isolated from crucifers grown in Germany indicating that the pathogen is widely distributed. This information will demonstrate the need for management practices for this pathogen world-wide and that the disease may be a more important problem then previously thought in Europe.

Technical Abstract: Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis is a severe pathogen of crucifers across the U.S. We compared a strain isolated from diseased radish (Raphanus sativus) in Germany to pathotypes and additional strains of P. cannabina pv. alisalensis and P. syringae pv. maculicola. We demonstrated that the pathogen from Germany had an identical host range and was genotypically identical or similar to P. cannabina pv. alisalensis. Thus, it was concluded that bacterial blight of radish from Germany was caused by P. cannabina pv. alisalensis. This research expands the geographic range of P. cannabina pv. alisalensis to include Germany.