Fire blight disease caused by the bacterium, Erwinia amylovora, was observed in apple and pear orchards in Korea in 2015. Since then, it has spread, sometimes over long distances to other orchards. Therefore, we examined the ability of E. amylovora to survive in soils and on the surfaces of common materials such as T-shirts, wrist bands, pruning shears, and rubber boots by both conventional PCR (cPCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) methods. E. amylovora was detected in all materials tested in this study and survived for sufficiently long periods to cause fire blight disease in new sites. Thus, based on the results of this study, sanitation protocols must be applied to equipment during orchard work.

Several types of chemical bactericides have been used to control fire blight. However, their excessive usage leads to environmental deterioration. Therefore, several researchers have analyzed antagonistic microorganisms as promising, effective, and safe biological control agents (BCAs). The primary aim of this study was to screen for potential antagonistic bacteria that suppress <i>Erwinia amylovora.</i> Among the 45 isolates studied, 5 strains showed the largest inhibition zone against <i>E. amylovora.</i> 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified them as <i>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</i> (KPB 15), <i>B. stratosphericus</i> (KPB 21), <i>B. altitudinis</i> (KPB 25), <i>B. safensis</i> (KPB 31), and <i>B. subtilis</i> (KPB 39). KPB 25 and 31 reduced the lesion size of fire blight by 50% in immature apple fruits, and did not show antagonism against each other. Therefore, KPB 25 and 31 were selected to develop an antagonistic mixture against fire blight. Although the mixture with KPB 25 and 31 showed a slightly increased ability to reduce lesion size on immature fruits, they did not exhibit a synergistic effect in reducing <i>E. amylovora</i> population compared to each strain alone. Nevertheless, we have identified these two strains as useful and novel BCAs against fire blight with additional benefits safety and potential in developing a mixture without loss of their activity, owing to the absence of antagonism against each other.

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During the nationwide survey of fire blight, the typical shoot blight symptoms were found on Korean mountain ash (Sorbus alnifolia) which was located near an orchard that produced fire blight on pear trees in Eumseong, Korea, May 2021. To identify the causal agent, we progressed isolation from the symptomatic leaves and shoots. Two white and mucoid colonies were isolated into the pure culture. Two isolates were identified as Erwinia amylovora according to the colony–polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with amsB primers and the phylogenetic tree using 16S rRNA sequences. To test of pathogenicity of two isolates, we inoculated immature pear fruits and understock of apple. We observed necrosis and oozes on immature pear fruits and shoot blight resulting in necrosis on apple shoots six days after inoculation. Colonies were recovered from the inoculated pears and apples, and identity was confirmed through colony PCR for amsB genes. To our knowledge, E. amylovora was first reported on Korean mountain ash native to South Korea.

The goal of this manuscript is to determine seed-borne plant pathogenic bacteria and phytoplasmas among quarantine pests in Korea. Four and two prohibited bacteria and phytoplasmas, respectively, and 35 and 17 restricted bacteria and phytoplasmas, respectively, were assessed whether they are seed-borne or not based on preliminary reports. As results, two species of prohibited bacteria, eighteen species of restricted bacteria, and one species of restricted phytoplasma have been determined as being seed-borne plant pathogenic bacteria. Thus, quarantine fields must account for these lists once inspection has been conducted on imported seeds and also use of these lists can help to reduce the production of new diseases that can spread from infected imported seeds.