Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca, Causing the Quarantine Disease of Olive Quick Decline Syndrome and Its Management Strategies

Document Type : review article

Authors

1 Assistant professor, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

2 Professor of Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

10.22092/rhsj.2024.363917.1080

Abstract

Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (Xfp) (family: Xanthomonadaceae) is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped with a rippled cell wall, non-motile, aerobic and non-spore-forming bacterium. Olive, almond, sweet cherry, oleander, and some ornamental and medicinal plants are hosts of the pathogen. Olive quick decline syndrome is the most important disease caused by Xfp, which seriously affects olive production, and leads to the death of sensitive cultivars in contaminated areas. The bacterial pathogen colonizes the xylem vessels of the hosts, and due to the production of abundant biofilms, the vessels are occluded and water transport is impaired. The pathogen is transmitted from infected plants to other hosts by xylem fluid feeding of the superfamily Cercopoidea. Fortunately, this disease has not been reported from Iran's olive groves, but due to the importance of the disease and its high prevalence and damage in the southern regions of Italy, the development of management strategies, and at the top of them, the observance of plant quarantine standards in international exchanges, to prevent the entry of infected plant organs, and continuous monitoring of olive nurseries and orchards in the country is necessary.

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