Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (5): 1097-1106.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240149

• Plant Protection • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Identification of etiological bacterium causing leaf spot disease on Ficus carica

JI Mengting1(), CHEN Changjiang2, ZHU Ling3, ZHAN Menglin1, XIAO Shun1, CAI Xueqing1,*()   

  1. 1. College of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
    2. College of Computer and Information Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
    3. Fujian Tianhe Lyubao Agricultural Materials Co., Ltd., Fuzhou 350193, China
  • Received:2024-02-18 Online:2025-05-25 Published:2025-06-11

Abstract:

From 2021 to 2023, a new bacterial leaf spot disease on Ficus carica was found in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, with an incidence above 50%. To clarify the cause of the disease, symptomatic leaf samples were collected and taken back to the laboratory to isolate the bacteria. The pathogenicity of the isolated strains were determined via Koch's rule, and its taxonomic status was confirmed based on the bacterial biological characteristics, physiological and biochemical characters, and multi-gene phylogenetic analysis. The results showed that 6 bacterial strains were obtained by isolating and purifying from the diseased leaves, and all the bacterial strains could cause the same disease on Ficus carica. The bacterial colonies were round and bulged with milk white. The bacterial cells were rod-shaped and had 1-6 flagella on polar. The Gram staining reaction was negative. The test results regarding 27 biological and biochemical characters of the isolated strains were consistent with Pseudomonas syringae strain DC3000. The bacterial cells could produce green water-soluble fluorescent on King's B medium. They were capable of hydrolyzing starch and had hydrogen peroxide activities. Meanwhile, they were not capable of potassium nitrate reduction, arginine hydrolysis, indole production or fructan utilization, and had no oxidase activities. They could utilize glucose, mannitol, sodium malonate, glycerol as carbon sources. As revealed by the constructed phylogenetic trees based on the sequences of 16S rDNA, and gyrB, rpoD, cts genes, the isolated strains were clustered with P. syringae pv. syringae. Above all, the isolated bacterial strains were identified as P. syringae pv. syringae. This was the first report that P. syringae pv. syringae could naturally cause leaf spot disease on Ficus carica in China.

Key words: Ficus carica bacterial leaf spot disease, pathogen identification, Pseudomonas syringae pv. Syringae

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