The Status of Erwinia amylovora in the Former Yugoslav Republics over the Past Two Decades

• Main Authors: Mila Grahovac, Jelica Balaž, Dragana Radunović, Renata Iličić, Marija Krstić
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Pesticides and Environmental Protection 2013-01-01
• Series: Pesticidi i Fitomedicina
• Subjects: Erwinia amylovora; Former Yugoslavia; Occurrence; Distribution; Control
• Online Access: http://www.pesting.org.rs/download.php/documents/28-1/28-1%209-22.pdf

Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight (FB) on fruit trees and ornamentalplants, rapidly spread across eastern Mediterranean countries in the early 1980s. This quarantinebacterium probably arrived in the southern parts of the former Yugoslavia (nowFYR Macedonia) from Greece. Based on symptoms, and isolation and identification data, itwas concluded that Erwinia amylovora was the causal agent of pear drying in Macedonia(1989). It was the first experimental confirmation of a presence of E. amylovora in the territoryof the former Yugoslavia. The presence of E. amylovora was also proved in Serbia thatsame year. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, FB was detected during 1990. Based on an officialreport filed with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Belgrade, the presence of E. amylovorain Yugoslavia was confirmed (EPPO – Reporting Service, 1991). Therefore, the presenceof the bacterium E. amylovora in the territory of Yugoslavia was officially confirmedin 1990. In Croatia, FB was first observed in villages near the border on Serbia in 1995.In Montenegro, FB was first detected in 1996. In Slovenia, FB appeared as late as in 2001.E. amylovora is now present on 10 hosts (pear, wild pear, apple, quince, medlar, mountainash,hawthorn, firethorn, cotoneaster and Japanese quince) in the territory ofthe former Yugoslav republics. Based on literature data, losses caused by FB in theformer Yugoslav republics in the period 1989-1992 were estimated at about12,000,000 DEM (mostly in Macedonia) and in the period 1992–1996 at 6,000,000 DEM.Total damage in a more recent epiphytotic year in Slovenia (2003) was estimated atabout 474,200 EUR.Conventional and up-to-date rapid methods (PCR, ELISA and IF, BIOLOG and API System,FAME and SDS-PAGE) have been used to identify E. amylovora. Mainly preventive measures have been used to control E. amylovora in the former Yugoslav republics. Spraying withcopper products has been practiced during the dormant period and in early spring. Inrare cases, spraying has been done at the flowering stage (MARYBLYT), but the problemis that no synthetic bactericides are available on the market. When symptoms occur, onlymechanical measures are being applied.