Survival of Erwinia amylovora on Surfaces of Materials Used in Orchards

• Main Authors: Hyun Ju Choi, Yeon Ju Kim, Yeon-Jeong Lim, Duck Hwan Park
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hanrimwon Publishing Company 2019-06-01
• Series: Research in Plant Disease
• Subjects: Apple; Erwinia amylovora; Fire blight; Longevity; Pear
• Online Access: http://www.online-rpd.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.5423/RPD.2019.25.2.89

Fire blight disease caused by the bacterium, Erwinia amylovora, was observed in apple and pear orchards in Korea in 2015. Since then, it has spread, sometimes over long distances to other orchards. Therefore, we examined the ability of E. amylovora to survive in soils and on the surfaces of common materials such as T-shirts, wrist bands, pruning shears, and rubber boots by both conventional PCR and quantitative PCR methods. E. amylovora was detected in all materials tested in this study and survived for sufficiently long periods to cause fire blight disease in new sites. Thus, based on the results of this study, sanitation protocols must be applied to equipment during orchard work.