Abstract
Incidence of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. corylina, the causal agent of hazelnut bacterial blight, was analyzed spatially in relation to the pedoclimatic factors. Hazelnut grown in twelve municipalities situated in the province of Viterbo, central Italy was studied. A consistent number of bacterial isolates were obtained from the infected tissues of hazelnut collected in three years (2010–2012). The isolates, characterized by phenotypic tests, did not show any difference among them. Spatial patterns of pedoclimatic data, analyzed by geostatistics showed a strong positive correlation of disease incidence with higher values of rainfall, thermal shock and soil nitrogen; a weak positive correlation with soil aluminium content and a strong negative correlation with the values of Mg/K ratio. No correlation of the disease incidence was found with soil pH. Disease incidence ranged from very low (<1%) to very high (almost 75%) across the orchards. Young plants (4-year old) were the most affected by the disease confirming a weak negative correlation of the disease incidence with plant age. Plant cultivars did not show any difference in susceptibility to the pathogen. Possible role of climate change on the epidemiology of the disease is discussed. Improved management practices are recommended for effective control of the disease.
Highlights
Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) represents an economically important nut crop of Italy
Disease symptoms in the fields Initial symptoms began to appear on leaves, during the early spring, when the phase of leaf development was terminated and the temperature was more favorable to leaf infection
Our study reports some important results which are significant to explain the role of pedoclimatic factors in the occurrence and spread of bacterial blight disease
Summary
Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) represents an economically important nut crop of Italy. Recent reports of bacterial blight disease on hazelnut regard the countries like Iran [11], Germany [12], Poland [13] and Chile [14] explaining the movement of the pathogen between the countries via propagation materials. This disease is not widespread in Europe and as such the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organizations included this pathogen in the A2 list of quarantine microorganism [9,10]. Devastating damage can occur on older (7–8 years) plants [10]
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