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AIMS: Bacterial canker of kiwifruit caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) is currently the major threat to its commercial production worldwide. In 2011, the most virulent type (Psa3) was detected for the first time in Northwest-Spain, in the province of Pontevedra. In 2013 surveys, leaves and flower buds with mild symptoms were observed in Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward' vines in an orchard at the province of A Coruña, suggesting the presence of P. syringae pv. actinidifoliorum (Psaf). METHODS AND RESULTS: Isolates obtained from such orchard were characterized by morphological, biochemical and physiological tests, fatty acids (FA) profile and molecular tests (PCR, BOX-PCR, duplex PCR, multiplex PCR, real-time PCR, PCR-C, phytotoxins, housekeeping and effector genes). Pathogenicity tests were also carried out on plants and fruits of A. deliciosa 'Hayward' and on different cultivated plants and fruits. Results demonstrated the presence of P. syringae pv. actinidifoliorum in Spain. CONCLUSIONS: The work provides new information on the pathovar P. syringae pv. actinidifoliorum, which has only been found previously in New Zealand, Australia and France. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: The results are relevant for taxonomy of isolates of P. syringae from kiwifruit, especially those of low virulence not belonging to pathovar actinidiae.

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The pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner & Buhrer) Nickle, a quarantine organism, causes serious damage to pines worldwide. In Europe, it was first detected in Portugal in 1999 (3) and the pathogen was thought to be restricted to this area. However, in 2008, B. xylophilus was isolated from a single tree in the Cáceres Region (Extremadura) of Spain, bordering Portugal (2). The region of Galicia has approximately 383,632 ha of Pinus pinaster Aiton that constitutes more than 40% of the surface of Spain. Since 1999, we have analyzed 5,155 samples to monitor the presence of the pathogen. In 2008, a Spanish national contingency plan established three delimiting sampling areas, including a high risk area 20 km from the border with Portugal (2 × 2 km grid), a medium risk area 80 km wide (4 × 4), and another area covering the whole region (8 × 8). The plan required collecting samples from symptomatic trees. In 2010, in the high risk area, 307 sites were surveyed in coniferous forests. At each site, wood chip samples were collected from five pine trees. The collected wood chips were then incubated for 15 days in the lab and nematodes were extracted by Baermann's funnel method. B. xylophilus was detected from a decayed mass of P. pinaster from the As Neves Municipality (Pontevedra, Galicia). Affected specimens showed typical symptoms associated with pine wilt, including needle discoloration and death of branches. B. xylophilus was identified by morphological and molecular methods. Morphological characteristics included high lips, constricted heads, and short stylets with reduced basal knobs. Females had rounded tails, some with a short mucro, and flat vulva, while males had spicules curved with a cucullus. Measurements of these nematodes (10 females: body length = 720.99 ± 123.87 µm, a = 41.07 ± 5.83, b = 9.22 ± 3.44, c = 26.57 ± 4.13, V = 73.2, stylet length = 14.91 ± 1.65 µm; 10 males: body length = 576.4 ± 88.16 µm, a = 38.12 ± 5.36, b = 7.83 ± 0.39, c = 23.07 ± 2.59, stylet length = 14.63 ± 1.95 µm, spicules length = 22.5 ± 2.21 µm) were similar to the isolates found in Portugal described by Penas et al.(4) and smaller than described by Mota et al. (3). Molecular diagnosis was done following the protocols recommended by the EPPO (1): (i) Amplification of satellite DNA of B. xylophilus by PCR obtaining fragments of 160, 320, and 480 bp; (ii) PCR amplification of a region of 77 bp satellite DNA of B. xylophilus by Taqman Real Time; and (iii) PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of Bursaphelenchus spp. nrDNA obtaining the restriction pattern for B. xylophilus. The ITS product amplified by PCR was also sequenced, showing a 99% homology with the sequences of B. xylophilus deposited in GenBank. A sequence of this nematode was submitted to GenBank database and assigned the number HQ646254. On the basis of these diagnostic characteristics, we have confirmed that B. xylophilus is now present in Galicia (northwestern Spain), which is one of the most productive and important region of Spain for forestry. References: (1) EPPO Bull. 39:344, 2009. (2) EPPO Rep. Serv. 3:2010/051, 2010. (3) M. M. Mota et al. Nematology 1:727, 1999. (4) A. C. Penas et al. J. Nematol. Morphol. Syst. 10:137, 2008.

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Bacterial canker of kiwifruit caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae was first described in Japan and Korea and is currently an emerging disease that causes major losses in China, Italy, New Zealand, France, Portugal, and Chile. Gold kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis), especially cvs. Jin Tao and Hort 16A, seem to be more susceptible than green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) cvs. Hayward and Summer. The bacterium affects male and female woody vines equally, with young vines being more susceptible. The most characteristic symptoms that appear in early spring are reddish orange or white exudates associated with cankers and wounds in branches and/or trunk, as well as brown leaf spots. Buds and fruits were also affected (1). In Spain, 1,132 ha of kiwifruit orchards yielded 25,285 t of fruit in 2009 (2). Most Spanish kiwifruit is cultivated in Galicia (northwest Spain), where the main cultivar is Hayward. In 2010, the first plantation of cv. Jin Tao and one plantation of cv. Summer were established in this area close to Hayward woody vine. In early spring 2011, 80% of the vines in one orchard had twigs with reddish exudates and branches and trunks as well as leaves with angular spots surrounded by yellow haloes. Isolations from both Actinidia spp. were conducted on nutrient agar with sucrose. One hundred and twelve isolates were obtained and seventy-seven were aerobic, gram negative and nonfluorescent on King's B medium. Biochemical tests performed were levan, oxidase, potato rot, arginine didhydrolase, hypersensitivity in tobacco, and utilization of 49 carbohydrates by the API 50 CH system (BioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France). Three PCR protocols were used: two with pathovar-specific primers (PSAF1/PSAR2 and PSAF3/PSAR4) and one with nonspecific primers (PsITSF1/PsITSR2) (3). The results of all biochemical and molecular tests were in agreement with those expected for P. syringae pv. actinidiae. The 16S-23S region of strain EFA 37 isolated from A. deliciosa cv. Summer was sequenced (GenBank Accession No. JF815537) and had 100% sequence identity with P. syringae pv. actinidiae (GenBank Accession Nos. AY342165 and D86357). Pathogenicity tests were performed on 15 plants of A. deliciosa cv. Hayward (five plants per isolate) with the Spanish representative strain EFA 37 and compared with two reference strains isolated from both Actinidia species in Italy and five plants of an untreated control. Three buds per healthy vine were wounded with a sterile needle, inoculated with 30 to 50 µl of each bacterial suspension (108 CFU/ml), sealed, and then covered with plastic. Five leaves per healthy vine were also pierced with a sterile needle and then atomized with the same suspension. Symptoms began to appear after 5 days on inoculated vines, but not on untreated control vines. The bacterium, P. syringae pv. actinidiae, was reisolated from symptomatic plants. The kiwifruit orchard with affected plants was eradicated (25 ha). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. syringae pv. actinidiae in Spain. References: (1) EPPO Alert List. Online publication. Retrieved from http://www.eppo.org/QUARATINE/Alert_List , June, 2011. (2) Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino (MARM). Anuario de Estadística, Online Publication. Retrieved from http://www.marm.es/estadistica/pags/anuario/2010 , June 2011. (3) J. Rees-George et al. Plant Pathol. 59:453, 2010.

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Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV; genus Nepovirus, family Comoviridae) is one of several nepoviruses responsible for infectious degeneration disease of grapevines in Europe (3). The first occurrence in Spain, in the summer of 2007, was found in Val de Salnés, Rias Baixas appellation, Galice on 25-year-old vines of the Albariño variety grafted onto an unidentified rootstock and showing leaf yellowing. The second finding was in the spring of 2008 in Barriobusto, Rioja appellation, Basque Country on 30-year-old vines of Tempranillo variety grafted onto 41B rootstock. In this case, no obvious foliar symptoms were observed but fruit set was very poor. Positive ELISA results were obtained at two different laboratories using antibodies to ArMV obtained from two companies (BIOREBA, Reinach, Switzerland and Sediag, Longvic, France). At a third lab, the presence of ArMV was further confirmed by reverse transcription (RT)-nested PCR using the primers described by Bertolini et al. (1). External primers ArMV 1 and ArMV 2 amplified a fragment of 340 bp from the coat protein region of the virus and internal primers ArMV i1 and ArMV i2 amplified a fragment of 203 bp. The specificity of the amplicons was subsequently confirmed by sequencing and comparison with other ArMV isolates available in the GenBank, EMBL, and DDBJ databases. Alignment performed using Blastn showed 85% nucleotide sequence identity with ArMV isolate NW (Accession No. AY017339). ELISA revealed co-infection with GLRaV-1 in Galice, GLRaV-3 in Rioja, and GFkV at both sites; these other viruses being common in their respective appellations. ArMV could be mechanically transmitted from rooted cuttings onto Chenopodium amaranticolor with an average of a 46% success rate (1:10 tissue/buffer ratio; [2]), but the range was very wide (0 to 100%) and dependent on the individual source vine. No statistical differences were found between nicotine or phosphate buffer for extraction or when using shoot tips or root tips as a source of virus (Fisher's exact test). Infection in C. amaranticolor was symptomless, but detectable by ELISA, and systemic. The Galician grapevine was an isolated plant, replanted on the spot of a dead one. Xiphinema diversicaudatum, the nematode vector of ArMV, was found in the vineyard soil. Only two ArMV-positive vines were found among 1,993 plants analyzed in Galice from 2005 to 2007 (no field data available for the second finding). In Rioja, one positive vine was found in a random sample of 74 vines from two different vineyards. Further testing of the neighboring vines indicated that one of the adjacent plants was also infected. This minimal spread since the vineyard was planted is suggestive of a lack of vectored transmission. In Spain as a whole, the virus seems to be rare and associated with the Atlantic biogeographic region. Both vineyards were planted before certified material became widely available. Currently, statutory testing of grapevine propagation material should prevent further spread. References: (1) E. Bertolini et al. Phytopathology 93:286, 2003. (2) G. P. Martelli, ed. Graft-Transmissible Diseases of Grapevines. Handbook for Detection and Diagnosis, FAO, Rome, 1993. (3) G. P. Martelli and E. Boudon-Padieu. Directory of Infectious Diseases of Grapevines and Viruses and Virus-like Diseases of the Grapevine. Bibliographic Report 1998-2004, CIHEAM, Paris, 2006.

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Camellias are widely cultivated in gardens and grown in nurseries for plant and flower production in northwestern Spain. Camellia japonica L. is most frequently grown, but many other camellia species and hybrids are also produced. In spring 1998, plants of Camellia sp. from a garden were observed to be affected by a root fungal pathogen, that formed a white mycelium that covered most of the roots, while aboveground plant parts showed a general decline. Infected roots were macerated and discolored. Fragments of the infected roots were surface-sterilized and placed in petri dishes containing potato dextrose agar and incubated at 24°C in the dark. The fungus formed a white mycelium that turned black in 1 week, developing pyriform swellings characteristic of Rosellinia necatrix Prill (1). To confirm pathogenicity, inoculum of the isolate was produced on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seeds autoclaved in glass vessels for 30 min at 120°C. Wheat seed cultures were started from disks of R. necatrix mycelium and grown at 24°C in the dark for 30 days. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on 48 2-year-old plants of the hybrid Camellia × williamsii cv. Mary Phoebe Taylor, which had been grown in 1.5-liter pots (one plant per pot) filled with soil in a glasshouse. The R. necatrix isolate was inoculated by adding 30 g of infected wheat seeds to each pot. The inoculum was mixed thoroughly with the substrate before potting. Another set of pots was left uninoculated, and served as a control. All pots were randomly arranged in a growth chamber at 22 to 24°C with a 12-h photoperiod. Seventeen days after inoculation, aerial symptoms of chlorosis and leaf fall were observed, while control plants remained symptomless. Inoculated plants died 3 months after inoculation. R. necatrix was reisolated from roots of all infected plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a root rot of camellia caused by R. necatrix, a pathogen causing white root rot mainly in deciduous fruit crops. Reference: (1) S. Freeman and A. Sztejnberg. Pages 71-73 in: Methods for Research on Soilborne Phytopathogenic Fungi. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1992.