Bacterial Fruit Rot of Apricot Caused by Burkholderia cepacia in China

Fang, Yuan; Li,  Bin; Wang,  Fang; Liu, Bao Ping; Wu, Zhi Yi; Su,  Ting; Qiu,  Wen; Xie, Guan Lin

doi:2009.25.4.429

Plant Pathol J > Volume 25(4); 2009 > Article

The Plant Pathology Journal 2009;25(4):429-432.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5423/PPJ.2009.25.4.429 Published online December 31, 2009.

Bacterial Fruit Rot of Apricot Caused by Burkholderia cepacia in China

Yuan Fang, Bin Li, Fang Wang, Bao Ping Liu, Zhi Yi Wu, Ting Su, Wen Qiu, Guan Lin Xie

Abstract

An unreported disease of apricot was observed in orchards in Zhejiang province, China. Symptoms started as water soaked lesions on the fruit surface. Later, water-soaked areas developed and spread to the entire fruit, resulting in soft rot of the whole fruit. The causal organism isolated from symptomatic fruits was identified as Burkholderia cepacia based on its biochemical and physiological characteristics and confirmed by the cellular fatty acid composition and Biolog data as well as 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The bacterial isolates caused similar symptoms when inoculated onto fruits of apricot. In addition, European plum, Japanese plum, nectarine and kiwifruit were susceptible to the B. cepacia pathogen. However, the B. cepacia pathogen failed to cause any visible symptoms when it was inoculated onto 16 other fruits. This is the first report of a bacterial disease of apricot caused by B. cepacia in China.

Key Words: apricot, fruit rot disease, host range, identification, Burkholderia cepacia