Control of bacterial spot on tomato in the greenhouse and field with h-mutant bacteriophages.

By J. Flaherty, Jeffrey B. Jones, B. Harbaugh, G. Somodi, L. E. Jackson. 2000

142 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A mixture of host-range mutant (h-mutant) bacteriophages specific for tomato race 1 (T1) and race 3 (T3) of the bacterial spot pathogen, Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Doidge) Dye was evaluated for biological control of bacterial spot on 'Sun- beam' tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) transplants and field-grown plants for two seasons (Fall 1997 and Fall 1998). Foliar applications of bacteriophages were compared with similar applications of water (control) and of copper/mancozeb bactericides, the commonly used chemical control strategy for tomato seedling and field production. In 1997, the incidence of bacterial spot on greenhouse-grown seedlings was reduced from 40.5% (control) to 5.5% or 0.9% for bactericide- or bacteriophage-treated plants, respectively. In 1998, the incidence of bacterial spot was 17.4% on control plants vs. 5.5% and 2.7% for bactericide- and bacteriophage-treated plants, respectively, although these differences were not statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05. Applications of bacteriophages to field-grown tomatoes decreased disease severity as measured by the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) by 17.5% (1997) and 16.8% (1998) compared with untreated control plants. Preharvest plant vigor ratings, taken twice during each field season, were higher in the bacteriophage-treated plants than in either bactericide-treated plants or nontreated controls except for the early vigor rating in 1998. Use of bacteriophages increased total weight of extra-large fruit 14.9% (1997) and 24.2% (1998) relative to that of nontreated control plants, and 37.8% (1997) and 23.9% (1998) relative to that of plants treated with the chemical bactericides. Chemical names used: manganese, zinc, carboxy- ethylene bis dithiocarbamate (mancozeb). thwarted genetic approaches for providing stable resistance in commercial cultivars of tomatoes and peppers (Jones et al., 1995; Kousik and Ritchie, 1996; Pohronezny et al., 1992). Copper-containing bactericides have been used to control bacterial spot for many years, but their effectiveness has been ham- pered by the emergence of copper-resistant strains of the pathogen (Jones et al., 1991; Marco and Stall, 1983). The development of bacteria resistant to antibiotics and chemicals and concomitant reduction in efficacy of these bactericides has sustained interest in devel- oping alternative control strategies to combat bacterial diseases in vegetable crops. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that only invade bacteria. They are generally spe- cies or subspecies specific, do not infect nontarget, beneficial bacteria, and also are nontoxic to humans. As early as 1926 (Moore, 1926), bacteriophages were used as a biocontrol agent and were effective in con- trolling Stewart's disease in corn (Thomas, 1935). Using bacteriophages, Civerolo and Kiel (1969) reduced bacterial spot disease of peach seedlings caused by Xanthomonas oryzae by 86% to 100%. However, use of bacteriophages was abandoned because of the emergence of bacterial mutants resistant to the bacteriophages used and the develop- ment of successful control measures with antibiotics and other chemicals. An approach that uses a mixture of host-range mutant (h-

Subfields: Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3951fc26f28dcae3b99a5fcb4fb0c3f9f78f660f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Plant Science

  1. Jeffrey B. Jones
  2. T. Suslow
  3. J. Kloepper
  4. C. Ryu
  5. A. Adesemoye
  6. B. Bouizgarne
  7. D. K. Maheshwari

Citations in the corpus