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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #376642
Research Project: Characterization of Molecular Networks in Diseases Caused by Emerging and Persistent Bacterial Plant Pathogens

Location: Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research

Title: Identification of Pectobacterium versatile causing blackleg of potato from New York State

Author
item Swingle, Bryan
item MA, XING - Cornell University
item Stodghill, Paul
item GAO, MIAO - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item PERRY, KEITH - Cornell University

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/20/2020
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Potatoes are an important crop around the world. Blackleg is a disease of potatoes that has been reported to be caused by several different bacteria which makes diagnostics as well as study of the disease complex. Since 2014, blackleg outbreaks caused by the bacterium Dickeya dianthicola have increased in the US and Canada. Our previous study reported Pectobacterium parmentieri and D. dianthicola to be the most abundant causal organisms of blackleg disease in New York State. In the present study, we identified and characterized bacteria from potato samples collected in New York State during the 2017 growing season and used genome sequence comparisons and phylogenetic methods to determine the pathogen species and relationships. We discovered a new species of bacteria, P. versatile associated with blackleg disease in New York State. The data also suggests that Pectobacterium species are endemic to New York and that Dickeya is a recent introduction emanating from a common source - which is indicative of a systemic problem. This study highlights the complex diversity of bacterial plant pathogens associated with blackleg disease of potato and provides useful information for continued epidemiological studies and development of diagnostic tests for these bacterial pathogens.

Technical Abstract: Soft rot bacteria classified in the Pectobacteriaceae (SRP), including Pectobacterium and Dickeya, are responsible for soft rot and blackleg diseases of potato. Since 2014, blackleg outbreaks caused by D. dianthicola have increased in the US and Canada. Our previous study found that the most abundant causal organisms of blackleg disease in the New York State are P. parmentieri and D. dianthicola. In the present study, we identified and characterized pathogenic SRP bacteria from 19 potato samples collected in New York State during the 2017 growing season. We used genome sequence comparison and phylogenetic methods to determine the pathogen species and evolutionary relationships. We found eight P. versatile, one P. atrosepticum, two P. carotovorum, two P. parmentieri, and six D. dianthicola isolates in the 2017 SRP collection. This is the first time that P. versatile is reported associated with potato blackleg disease in the New York State. In contrast with reports from other states, thus far D. dianthicola is the only Dickeya species associated with potato blackleg in the New York State.