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Occurrence, identification, and bactericide sensitivity of Pantoea ananatis causing leaf blight on welsh onion in Taiwan

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Abstract

Leaves of Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) showing blight and elongated lesions were observed and sampled in central west Taiwan in 2016, from which a bacterium phenotypically similar to Pantoea spp. was isolated. The results of molecular identification based on 16S rDNA and gyrB sequences indicate that the Welsh onion isolates are Pantoea ananatis. Upon artificial inoculation of Welsh onion leaves, P. ananatis isolates induced symptoms indistinguishable from those observed on the naturally infected plants. The bacterium was consistently re-isolated from inoculated leaves, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P. ananatis causing leaf blight of Welsh onion in Taiwan. The Welsh onion-pathogenic P. ananatis isolates showed copper resistance, implying that copper-based bactericides may not provide effective protection of Welsh onion against P. ananatis.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. (grant number 104-2313-B-415-013-MY2).

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C.J.H. conceived this work. C.J.H. and Y.J.W. designed and carried out most of the experiments. C.J.H analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. C.H.L. was involved in data analysis and revised the manuscript critically. All authors have approved the final version of manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chien-Jui Huang.

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Wang, YJ., Lin, CH. & Huang, CJ. Occurrence, identification, and bactericide sensitivity of Pantoea ananatis causing leaf blight on welsh onion in Taiwan. J Plant Pathol 100, 309–312 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-018-0067-1

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