Identification, determination of races and epidemiology of Erwinia chrysanthemi caused stem necrosis in plastic tomato greenhouses in Eastern Mediterranean region

ABSTRACT MSc THESIS IDENTIFICATION, DETERMINATION ofBIOVARS and EPIDEMIOLOGY of Erwinia chrysanthemi CAUSED STEM NECROSIS in PLASTIC TOMATO GREENHAUSES in EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION RAZİ YE ÇETİNKAYA YILDIZ DEPARTMENT of PLANT PROTECTION INSTITUTE of NATURAL and APPLIED SCIENCES UNIVERSITY of ÇUKUROVA Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Özden ÇINAR Year: 2002, Page: 61 Jury :Prof. Dr. Özden ÇİNAR : Prof.Dr. ZülküfKAYA : Asisst. Prof Yeşim AYSAN Twenty four soft rot Erwinia species were isolated from Eastern Mediterranean Region. 17 of them were identified as Erwinia caralovora subsp. caralovora and 7 of them were identified as Erwinia chrysanthemi. It was determined (hat Erwinia chrysanthemi isolated were biovar 6. It was determined that the pathogen couldn't survive during summer in Eastern Mediterranean Region but it could survive in plant debris as far as next season. During winter months which is the out of tomato growing season, the agent was isolated from soil and plant debris. The pathogen was also survived on contaminated seeds for 1 1 months. Determination of disease symptoms on cotiledone leaves growed (rom contaminated seeds showed that the agent can be transported by seeds. Effects of various seed amplications were tested in order to eliminate Erwinia chrysanthemi from tomato seeds. From the point of the germination ratios and effect of applications on the stem necrosis caused by Erwinia chrysanthemi dipping in 0.6 M UC1 and 1% NaOCl for 30 seconds were effective. Key Words: Tomato, Erwinia chrysanthemi, biovar, seed, epidemiology II