First Report of Pectobacterium aroidearum Causing Soft Rot on Ficus carica in Korea

Abstract

In July 2021, symptoms of soft rot were observed on the stems of <i>Ficus carica</i> in Yeongam, Jeollanamdo, Korea. To accurately diagnose the cause, infected stem was collected and bacterial strain was isolated. Among these, the pathogenic strain KNUB-08-21 was identified as <i>Pectobacterium aroidearum</i> through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated sequences of the <i>dnaX</i>, <i>leuS</i>, and <i>recA</i> genes. The affiliation of the isolate with this bacterial species was also confirmed by its biochemical characteristics obtained using API ID 32 GN system. Artificial inoculation confirmed the strain’s pathogenicity in figs, causing significant damage to both stems and fruits. To our knowledge, this is the first report of <i>P. aroidearum</i> causing soft rot disease in <i>F. carica</i> in Korea.