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Survival of Softrot Bacteria during the Storage of Witloof Chicory Roots
Author(s) -
Schober B. M.,
Zadoks J. C.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of phytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1439-0434
pISSN - 0931-1785
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0434.1999.tb03851.x
Subject(s) - erwinia , biology , incidence (geometry) , inoculation , bacteria , colonization , horticulture , zoology , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , genetics , optics
During the cold storage of witloof chicory roots, changes in the populations of the softrot bacteria Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora ( Ecc ), Erwinia carotovora ssp. atroseptica ( Eca ) and Pseudomonas marginalis ( Pm ) were investigated from October (directly after harvest) until March of the next year. Colonization incidence of Ecc and Pm changed during the early weeks of storage in each of the 3 years of the experiment and increased significantly after December, approximately 6 to 8 weeks after the roots had been placed in storage. After inoculation, during storage in 1996, populations of Eca decreased continuously from 5.8 × 10 5 CFU/ml to 10 3 CFU/ml 4 weeks later in mid‐November without any further statistically significant increase during the rest of the storage period. Timecourse analysis of the monthly colonization incidence of Ecc and Pm over the 3 years revealed that the incidence was significantly dependent on the incidence 2 weeks earlier. Also, high colonization incidences during storage coincided with high disease incidence during the following forcing period of the roots. Therefore, a forecast of disease incidence during forcing of the witloof chicory heads may be envisaged.