Burkholderia Gladioli and Pseudomonas Marginalis Pathogens of Leucojum Aestivum

ABSTRACT

Leucojum aestivum (summer snowflake) is a perennial, wild plant species of medical importance. L. aestivum is in danger of extinction and has been thus put under a regulated regime for conservation. However, its natural fields in Bulgaria continue to deteriorate, one of the reasons being contamination of rivers with industrial waste. The plant has been long known not to suffer diseases. In the period 2006–2011, however, diseased bulbs with symptoms of bacteriosis were observed. This paper presents the third of a series of investigations of L. aestivum in Bulgaria with symptoms of bacterial rot.

After the pathogenicity tests and on the basis of physiological characteristics, metabolic fingerprints, and PCR with specific primers, bacterial strains—causal agents of bacterial rot of L. aestivum were identified as Burkholderia gladioli and Pseudomonas marginalis. Additional PCR using the RAPD technique differentiated Burkholderia gladioli pv. alliicola. It could be speculated that contamination of rivers may have been the reason for the spread of pathogens which normally infect other bulbous plants and can survive in soil and water, thus contributing to deterioration of the natural L. aestivum fields.

Keywords:

• Leucojum aestivum
• Pseudomomas marginalis
• Burkholderia gladioli