PSEUDOMONAS POPULATION CAUSING TOMATO PITH NECROSIS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Abstract

Pseudomonas species causing pith necrosis on tomato were collected from 2005 to 2012 in different regions of the Republic of Macedonia and identified as Pseudomonas mediterranea and P. viridiflava. Other Pseudomonas spp. were also recovered, but they are still under identification. The obtained bacterial isolates were compared with reference strains on the basis of phenotypic characteristics, pathogenicity, sensitivity to antibiotics, BIOLOG tests, DNA fingerprinting by multiplex PCR using two specific primers [type I (PC5/1 and PC 5/2) and type II (PC1/1 and PC 1/2)], and 16S rRNA-RFLP analysis. Unique DNA bands from 10 representative strains isolated from symptomatic tomato plants disclosed the presence of P. mediterranea by amplification of their genomic DNA. All strains produced one specific band (600 bp) compared with the representative samples IPVCT9.1 (P. mediterranea). Also, we used another representative sample IPVCT10.3 (P. corrugata), to check if we already have P. corrugata or no, in our samples. In order to investigate the bacterial populations causing tomato pith necrosis in Macedonia, a total of 150 isolates were collected and compared with reference strains. This is the first report on Pseudomonas population causing pith necrosis of tomato in the Republic of Macedonia.