Soft Rot Of Potato Tubers Research Articles

RecA is required in the induction of pectin lyase and carotovoricin in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Pectin lyase (PNL) and the bacteriocin carotovoricin (CTV) were induced in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora 71 by the DNA-damaging agents mitomycin C, nalidixic acid, and UV light. To determine whether the recA product was involved in the expression of these damage-inducible phenotypes, we cloned the E. carotovora subsp. carotovora recA+ gene, inactivated it by Tn5 insertion, and constructed an E. carotovora subsp. carotovora recA::Tn5 strain by gene replacement via homologous recombination. The RecA- strain was more sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate, nitroquinoline oxide, and UV light than its RecA+ parent. The recA mutation did not affect the production of pectate lyase, polygalacturonase, cellulase, and protease or the ability to cause soft rot of potato tubers. With this mutant, unlike with the RecA+ parent strain, PNL and CTV were not induced by mitomycin C or detected in potato tuber tissue. The RecA+ phenotype, including the inducibility of PNL and CTV, could, however, be restored in the mutant in trans by the recA+ gene from either E. carotovora subsp. carotovora or Escherichia coli. We conclude that, in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora, the recA product is required in the induction of PNL and CTV.

Molecular cloning of pectate lyase genes from Erwinia chrysanthemi and their expression in Escherichia coli.

A genomic library of Erwinia chrysanthemi EC16 was constructed in plasmid pHC79, and seven putative pectate lyase (PL) clones in Escherichia coli were selected on pectate agar. Six of the recombinant cosmids contained a common PstI fragment of ca. 8.2 kilobases (kb). Subcloning of this fragment in either orientation into the PstI site of plasmid pBR329 resulted in E. coli transformants that produced a PL of pI 9.8 which was indistinguishable from one of two PLs produced by strain EC16. A 6.6-kilobase PstI fragment from the remaining cosmid clone caused production of an Erwinia PL of pI 8.8 when the fragment was subcloned in either orientation into plasmid pBR329 and transformed into E. coli. Selected pBR329 subclones for the 8.2- and 6.6-kilobase PstI fragments showed no similarity in their restriction maps and did not cross-hybridize. All of the E. coli cosmid clones that produced large amounts of PL also caused soft-rot of potato tubers and tuber slices, thus confirming the role of the enzymes in plant tissue maceration. The E. coli cosmid clones and plasmid pBR329 subclones produced the PLs constitutively, unlike Erwinia chrysanthemi, which made the enzymes inducibly. However, catabolite repression appeared to function in the E. coli clones, and almost all of the PL activity occurred in the periplasm and culture fluids. Thus, the Erwinia PL clones appear to contain signal peptide sequences, transcription and translation signals, and a recognition sequence for the catabolite activator protein, all of which function efficiently in E. coli.

Inoculation of potato tubers withErwinia carotovora during simulated commercial washing and fluming practices

The potential for bacterial soft rot in potato tubers was affected by laboratory simulation of some components of fluming and washing practices at commercial packinghouses. The potential was expressed as disease severity (average percentage surface decayed) after a standard 4-day incubation at 20°C in a mist chamber. Increased disease resulted when there was an increase in the following factors: a) duration of immersion of tubers in water; b) population of bacteria suspended in water; c) hydrostatic pressure on submerged tubers, and d) concentration of a surfactant (Triton X-100) in the suspensions. A sample of tubers from each tuber lot was uniformly moistened with tap water and then incubated to determine a base-level disease severity. Disease severity in Russet Burbank tubers from commercial storage increased from the base-level of 0.8% to 76% when tubers were immersed in 5 × 106 colony-forming units (cfu)/ml ofErwinia carotovora pv.carotovora (Ecc) for 64 min prior to incubation. Disease severity was 64% when tubers were immersed in a similar suspension for only 0.1 min, but with a hydrostatic pressure of 230 cm of water. Severity values fourto fivefold above control levels (from immersion in water) resulted from an immersion for 5 min in 5 × 103 cfu/ml with hydrostatic pressures of 5, 180, or 370 cm of water. A 20-fold increase in severity occurred when Red LaSoda tubers were immersed briefly (less than 5 s) in 5 × 106 cfu/ml. Rinsing these tubers with tap water after inoculation, but prior to incubation, did not affect the subsequent development of decay. Thus, the high potential for bacterial soft rot in tubers that have been flumed or washed by water concentrated with soft rotErwinia cannot be reduced by washes or rinses with clean water.

Reduced Severity of Erwinia Soft Rot in Potato Tubers with Increased Calcium Content

Reduced Severity of Erwinia Soft Rot in Potato Tubers with Increased Calcium Content

A method for testing potential bactericides for the prevention of soft rotting of potato tubers

Two techniques developed at Rothamsted have been combined to produce a convenient means of assessing potential bactericides for the prevention of soft rot of potato tubers. After receiving crush wounds, as used for gangrene induction, tubers are chemically treated and then exposed to an anaerobic atmosphere in airtight plastic buckets for up to 10 days at 15°C (bucket test), an environment in which untreated tubers readily rot.

Studies on the initiation of bacterial soft rot in potato tubers

Non-inoculated whole tubers rot readily under anaerobic conditions when their surface is maintained moist in a water-saturated atmosphere. Rotting is reduced under otherwise similar but aerobic conditions, but there is some rotting under anaerobic conditions even if their surface is dry.

Factors influencing the soft-rotting of potato tubers by bacteria

The production of extensive soft rot in potato tubers which were wounded, inoculated withErwinia carotovora var.atroseptica and stored inc. 100% RH at 20° was greatly increased by replacing air in containers with N2. Accumulation of CO2 due to tuber respiration did not significantly affect the production of rots in these conditions. When tubers were inoculated with sterile water in place of theErwinia and held under anaerobic conditions, spreading soft rots were also produced andClostridia, but not soft rotErwinia, were isolated from the rotted tissue. Some of theseClostridia were shown to be capable of breaking down potato tissue, and may be a significant cause of potato soft rots developing in store.

STUDIES IN BACTERIOSIS. XIII: A SOFT ROT OF POTATO TUBERS DUE TOBACILLUS CAROTOVORUSAND A COMPARISON OF THE CULTURAL, PATHOLOGICAL AND SEROLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR OF VARIOUS ORGANISMS CAUSING SOFT ROTS

SUMMARYAn internal soft rot of potato tubers caused byB. carotovorusis described. Various strains ofB. phytophthorus, B. solanisaprusandB. carotovorusare compared with respect to their cultural, pathological and serological behaviour, and the differences seem sufficient to warrant their continued separation into distinct species.