Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVIV, Issue 1
Written by Mariya STOYANOVA, Elena GRANCHAROVA, Miroslava VALKOVA, Teodora MIHOVA
Plant pathogens present serious challenges before producers. Erwinia amylovora is a polyphagous pathogen that also affects strawberries. However, data on bacterial pathogens on this crop is scarce worldwide and lacks in Bulgaria. The present study aimed to investigate the damages that E. amylovora induces in greenhouse-grown strawberries (Fragaria ananassa) from the variety “Snow white” in Bulgaria, with respect to different irrigation and fertilization levels, and the potential of a plant-derived extract from fruits of Chaenomeles sp. to be used for disease control. The extract has previously shown to have good antibacterial activity and it exhibited no phytotoxicity on the strawberry plants. The results showed raised leaf losses for the inoculated with pathogen vs the non-inoculated plants and vs the inoculated and treated with extract plants. The flower losses due to infection are significant and the inoculated plants lose about 2.3 times more flowers compared to the non-inoculated plants and about 2 times more flowers compared to the inoculated and treated plants, thus revealing a clear tendency towards flower damaging caused by the pathogen and a protective effect of the used extract.
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