Bacterial Wilt of Dry-Edible Beans in the Central High Plains of the U.S.: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Bacterial wilt, caused by Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, was first recognized and described as a new dry bean disease near Redfield, SD after the 1921 growing season on the farm of the Office of Forage Investigations. Between the late 1930s and the early 1950s it became one of the more problematic bacterial diseases of dry beans. It became an endemic problem in dry bean production throughout western Nebraska and other areas of the central high plains during the 1960s and early 1970s. By the early 1980s, the disease had virtually disappeared with the implementation of cultural practices. The disease was rediscovered in two fields in Nebraska late in the 2003 season. It was assumed to be an isolated incident. However, the next season the pathogen was widespread throughout western Nebraska production fields. Our research suggests that the return of bean wilt throughout the central high plains over the last decade is not due to a single factor but a combination of new changes in cultural practices, environmental stresses, and unfamiliarity with the pathogen and its past history.

Epiphytic Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens strains isolated from symptomless solanaceous vegetables are pathogenic on leguminous but not on solanaceous plants

“…While the results of Harveson et al . () and those of the present study support the hypothesis of latent survival of the bacterial wilt pathogen on a number of nonhost plants, further studies are needed to precisely determine the role of nonhost plants in the survival and spread of this pathogen.…”

“…The results of this study are in agreement with those of Harveson et al . (), that C. flaccumfaciens can survive on a striking number of nonhost plant species including alfalfa, maize, eggplant, pepper, sunflower, tomato and wheat under field conditions. All pathogenic strains of C. flaccumfaciens tested in this study were isolated from solanaceous vegetables grown across the areas where bacterial wilt disease of dry beans, caused by Cff, is widespread (Osdaghi et al ., ).…”

The expression of an exogenous ACC deaminase by the endophyteSerratia grimesiiBXF1 promotes the early nodulation and growth of common bean

“…b), suggesting that infection with Curtobacterium flacumfaciens , a seed‐borne phytopathogen that is commonly found in beans in Brazil had occurred (Harveson et al . ).…”

Population dynamics of Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. phaseolicola in bean, throughout the epiphytic and pathogenic phases

“…flaccumfaciens (Harveson et al, 2015), when it was found that storms and hail events that caused physical damage to bean plants enhanced the disease, by favoring stomatal opening or bypassing plant defense by creating wounds as entry sites. The effect of rainfall on populations of P. syringae pv.…”