The cause of deep-pitted scab of potatoes

Abstract

By use of a tyrosine-casinate-nitrate medium,Streptomyces atroolivaceous, S. cinerochromogenes, S. corchorusii, S. diastatochromogenes, S. lydicus, S. malachiticus, and three unidentifiedStreptomyces spp. were isolated from deep-pitted scab lesions on potato cultivars Green Mountain, Red Pontiac, Russet Burbank, and Saco. Over 90% of the deep-pitted lesions contained one or more of theseStreptomyces spp., butS. scabies the cause of shallow scab was not isolated. Isolates ofStreptomyces spp. were also consistently isolated from aseptically excised non-necrotic tissue near the edge of lesions. TheseStreptomyces spp. appeared to be the primary colonizers of this tissue. Alternaria spp.,Fusarium spp.,Penicillium spp.,Rhizopus spp.,Trichoderma spp., and several unidentified non-sporulating fungi as well asBacillus spp.,Pseudomonas spp., andMicrococcus spp. were isolated from deep-pitted scab lesions. Fungal and bacterial isolates varied from one scab lesion to another and except for anAlternaria sp., were not pathogenic. Most of theStreptomyces spp. isolates used to infest heat pasteurized field soil caused deep and/or shallow scab on tubers of the potato cultivar Kennebec in greenhouse and outdoor plantings. Re-isolations from resulting scab lesions yieldedStreptomyces spp. similar in morphology to those used as inoculum. We concluded that a number ofStreptomyces spp. probably includingS. scabies (ATCC 3352 = S.griseus) may cause deep and shallow scab.