Investigation and detection of fire blight disease on pear caused by Erwinia amylovora in Erbil Province

Abstract EN

Four isolates of Erwinia amylovora were isolated during (May, 2016) from different pear orchards of Erbil Governorate in Kurdistan/Iraq.

Typical symptoms of fire blight such as shepherd crock and bacterial exudates were observed in pear trees, The bacteria morphologically similar to E.

amylovora were isolated and characterized morphologically using selective media Crosse and Goodman, Biochemically using the API 20E and same biochemical tests (oxidase, catalase and indole) were also used for identification, and the result of API 20E kit (Biomérieux, France), demonstrated that the bacterium belongs to E.

amylovora.

Also all isolates were oxidase and indole negative, catalase positive and produced craters on the surface of colonies which permitted positive identification of the pathogen.

A pathogenicity tests were positive on young pear shoots and immature fruits.

PCR amplification was applied to identify a specific region of chromosomal pEA71, Results showed positive reaction to this specific primer.

The first study conducted on pear fire blight caused by E.

amylovora in Erbil Province.