Bean common bacterial blight: pathogen epiphytic life and effect of irrigation practices
1 Dept. of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
2 Plant Pests and Diseases Res. Division, Agricultural and Natural Resources Res. Center, Arak, Iran
3 Dept. of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
SpringerPlus 2013, 2:41 doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-41Published: 8 February 2013
In recent years, bean common bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Xap) has caused serious yield losses in several countries. CBB is considered mainly a foliar disease in which symptoms initially appear as small water-soaked spots that then enlarge and become necrotic and usually bordered by a chlorotic zone. Xap epiphytic population community has a critical role in the development of the disease and subsequent epidemics. The epiphytic population of Xap in the field has two major parts; solitary cells (potentially planktonic) and biofilms which are sources for providing and refreshing the solitary cell components. Irrigation type has a significant effect on epiphytic population of Xap. The mean epiphytic population size in the field with an overhead sprinkler irrigation system is significantly higher than populations under furrow irrigation. A significant positive correlation between the epiphytic population size of Xap and disease severity has been reported in both the overhead irrigated (r=0.64) and the furrow irrigated (r= 0.44) fields.