First report of Pectobacterium brasiliense causing blackleg disease of potato plants in Belarus

Abstract

During the 2020–2021 period, potato fields in the Brest and Minsk regions of Belarus were surveyed for plants with blackleg symptoms. Twenty-seven pectolytic enterobacterial isolates were obtained from 20 symptomatic plants by suspending diseased stem sections in sterile water for 10 min, followed by serial dilutions on crystal violet pectate agar (CVP) (Hélias et al. 2012). Five isolates originating from a single field in the Brest area with disease incidence of ~ 7% were Gram-negative, rod-shaped, grew at 37 °C, macerated potato and carrot slices in standard tests (Schaad et al. 2001) and were positive in PCR with Pectobacterium brasiliense (Pbr)-specific primers BR1f and L1r (Duarte et al. 2004). They produced acid from D-galactose, lactose, raffinose, arabinose, xylose, mannitol, mannose, and rhamnose, but not from maltose, sorbitol, dulcitol, α-methyl-D-glucoside.