Determination of the pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria on stone fruits grown in Northeast Anatolia region of Turkey

Abstract In the present study, bacterial flora were isolated from diseased plant samples obtained from stone fruit species (peach, apricot, plum, prune, cherry, sour cherry and almond) grown in the Northeast Anatolia region of Turkey during 2002–2004. All bacterial strains were identified using conventional and molecular techniques, including morphological, physiological and biochemical tests, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis and carbon utilization profiles. According to FAME analysis, a total of 365 bacterial strains belonging to 39 genera were identified. Among them, 69 strains of two different species of Pseudomonas were demonstrated to be pathogenic based on the hypersensitive test on tobacco and pathogenicity tests on original host plants including peach, apricot and sour cherry. According to Sherlock Microbial Identification System results, the most common pathogenic bacterial strains were Pseudomonas syringae (94.2%) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (5.8%). According to biochemical test results (...