BACTERIOPHAGE OF ERWINIA AMYLOVORA AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR BIOCONTROL

Three species of bacteriophage specific to Erwinia amylovora were isolated from Michigan apple orchards and tested for their ability to control fire blight.
In liquid culture, individual phage were ineffective at controlling the growth of E. amylovora; but a mixture of the three phage kept bacterial populations at about 1% of the level reached by cultures grown without phage.
Apple blossoms in the field were inoculated with the three-phage mixture and a marked strain of E. amylovora, and their population dynamics monitored through the bloom period.
Populations of phage gradually declined on blossoms not inoculated with E. amylovora; in the presence of E. amylovora, however, phage populations remained high for the duration of the experiment.
There was significantly less fire blight on inoculated blossom clusters treated with phage resulting in 26% to 37% control.
Because high populations of phage were dependent on the presence of E. amylovora, strategies need to be found for maintaining phage populations during the bloom period.

VIII International Workshop on Fire Blight

E.L. Schnabel, W.G.D. Fernando, M.P. Meyer, A.L. Jones, L.E. Jackson

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.489.116