Occurrence of Shallow Bark Canker of Walnut (Juglans regia) in Southern Provinces of Iran

Abstract

From April 2001 to November 2002, samples of walnut branches and trunks with symptoms of shallow bark canker were collected from Fars and Kohgiluyeh-va-Boyerahmad provinces. Symptoms of the disease were small cracks in the bark of the trunk and scaffold branches of mature trees with dark watery exudates which stained the affected trunk or limb. By removal of phelloderm, extensive necrosis of the underlying tissues was observed. In some cases, necrosis extended to cambium and outer xylem. Sixty-one strains of a bacterium were isolated from infected tissues using EMB and YDC media. On the basis of standard biochemical and physiological tests the bacterium was identified as Brenneria nigrifluens. The pathogen was found to be wide-spread in the provinces. Isolates were compared by physiological and biochemical characters, antibiotic sensitivity and protein electrophoretic pattern. Most of the strains were fairly similar in phenotypic features and electrophoretic profiles ofwhole-cell proteins were similar to each other and to reference strain (B. nigrifluens 5D313). Inoculation of 1-2 years-old walnut seedlings in May and June produced blackening symptoms and the bacterium survived for long period in infected tissues. This is the first report of the shallow bark canker of walnut in southern Iran.