Assessment of fire blight introduction in the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT

Fire blight disease of apples continues its worldwide spread, having reached Kazakhstan in 2010. It is a great threat to the wild apple forests of Malus sieversii. The introduction of fire blight is already showing a considerable impact on cultural apple growing and demands radical efforts for conservation of the wild apple forests. A number of studies have been conducted to examine the presence of fire blight distribution within apples in agricultural areas; however, there has been no large-scale monitoring of wild apple tree populations. Here we present the results of three years of monitoring wild apples in three protected areas of Kazakhstan, looking for the presence of fire blight (Erwinia amylovora). A visual inspection showed no signs of fire blight on the trees of M. sieversii in three consecutive years. These findings were confirmed by lateral flow immunochromatography, and conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction tests of the asymptomatic samples. The findings of this study will be used to produce recommendations for state authorities to prevent fire blight in wild apple forests of Kazakhstan.

KEYWORDS:

• Malus sieversii
• wild apple forests
• fire blight
• Erwinia amylovora
• conservation
• specially protected natural territories

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported under Grant OR11465447 ‘Development of highly sensitive molecular biological and biochemical tests for the detection of pathogens affecting the consumer qualities of the final product, based on monitoring of pathogens of agricultural crops’; and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under the Grant Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung IZ08Z0_177515/1 ‘Preservation of Central Asian fruit tree forest ecosystems, pome fruit varieties and germplasm from the recent epidemics caused by the invasive bacterial pathogen Erwinia amylovora’.

Notes on contributors

Elina R. Maltseva

Elina R. Maltseva is a molecular biologist, co-author of the manuscript and overall supervisor of the study.

Galiya A. Zharmukhamedova

Galiya A. Zharmukhamedova is a phytopathologist, responsible for phytopathologic assessment and sample collection.

Zhulduzay K. Jumanova

Zhulduzay K. Jumanova is a phytopathologist, responsible for phytopathologic assessment and sample collection.

Dinara A. Naizabayeva

Dinara A. Naizabayeva is a molecular biologist, responsible for laboratory analysis (PCR and real-time PCR).

Zhanna A. Berdygulova

Zhanna A. Berdygulova is a molecular biologist, responsible for GIS data and mapping.

Karina A. Dmitriyeva

Karina A. Dmitriyeva is a technician, responsible for sample collection and processing in the laboratory.

Sagi S. Soltanbekov

Sagi S. Soltanbekov is a phytopathologist, responsible for phytopathologic assessment and sample collection.

Assel M. Argynbayeva

Assel M. Argynbayeva is a technician, responsible for sample collection and processing in the laboratory.

Yuriy A. Skiba

Yuriy A. Skiba is a molecular biologist, responsible for laboratory analyses.

Natalya P. Malakhova

Natalya P. Malakhova is a molecular biologist, responsible for laboratory analyses.

Fabio Rezzonico

Fabio Rezzonicco is a molecular biologist, molecular phytopathologist, project manager from Swiss National Science Foundation, and supervisor of all stages of the study.

Theo H.M. Smits

Theo H.M. Smits is a molecular biologist and sequencing specialist, responsible for revision of the manuscript.