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. 2022 Dec 17;10(12):2504.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10122504.

Natural Infections of Potato Plants Grown from Minitubers with Blackleg-Causing Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae

Jan van der Wolf  1 , Marjon Krijger  1 , Odette Mendes  1 , Viola Kurm  1 , Jack Gros  2
Affiliations

Natural Infections of Potato Plants Grown from Minitubers with Blackleg-Causing Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae

Jan van der Wolf et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Information on the infection incidence of blackleg-causing soft rot Pectobacteriaceae (BL-SRP) in potato crops grown from minitubers (PB1-crop) and the distribution of BL-SRP in individual plants was collected during a two-year survey conducted at five potato growers located in the Netherlands. In the last weeks before haulm destruction, leaves, stems, and tubers of 100 or 200 plants were analyzed separately for the presence of Pectobacterium parmentieri, P. brasiliense, P. atrosepticum, and Dickeya spp. Extracted plant parts enriched for BL-SRP were analyzed with TaqMan assays specific for the detection of blackleg-causing BL-SRP. In 2019, low incidences of P. parmentieri (1-6%) in leaves were found at four growing sites. At one farm, reactions were detected in TaqMan assays for D. zeae and D. chrysanthemi in leaves. In 2020, the crops of two growers were largely free from BL-SRP. At one farm, a high infection incidence (21%) was found for D. fangzhongdai in tubers. The isolated pathogen was able to cause potato blackleg. At two other farms, high infection incidences in tubers were found with P. brasiliense (35-39%) and P. parmentieri (12-19%), whereas the incidence of P. brasiliense in leaves was also high (8%). In conclusion, high infection incidences with BL-SRP in potatoes can be found in a PB1 crop at the end of the growing season. Infections in individual plants were found either in tubers or in leaves. The potential sources of initial infection are discussed.

Keywords: Dickeya; Pectobacterium; TaqMan; airborne infection; gapA sequencing; infection source; initial infection; soilborne infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results of an analysis of leaves, stems, and tubers of potato plants grown from minitubers at five growers (A–E) with a multiplex TaqMan assay detecting simultaneously Dickeya sp., Pectobacterium brasiliense, P. parmentieri, and P. atrosepticum followed by identification of positive results using simplex assays against the target pathogen. In 2019, 100 individual plants per grower were sampled. In 2020, 200 plants were sampled per grower.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of samples (tubers, stems, or leaves) of a potato crop grown from minitubers positive in a TaqMan assay for a homogeneous clade of predominantly highly virulent P. brasiliense (vPbr TaqMan) calculated of the total number of positive samples in a Pbr TaqMan assay detecting all P. brasiliense strains. Number of samples positive with the Pbr TaqMan is indicated on top of the bars.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Disease prevalence of a potato crop after vacuum-infiltration of seed tubers of cv. Kondor and cv. Agria with Dickeya fangzhongdai or Pectobacterium brasiliense strains. Bars labelled with an identical character are not significantly different (p = 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree of gapA sequences (762 bp) of Dickeya strains for identification of D. fangzhongdai (indicated with a red arrow), isolated from potato plants in the Netherlands. Bootstrap values greater than 40% are shown for 500 replicates. Concatenated sequences of Pectobacterium brasiliense were used as an out-group.
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