IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PSEUDOMONAS SYRINGAE ISOLATED FROM APRICOT TREES IN THE ERZURUM PROVINCE OF TURKEY AND EVALUATION OF CULTIVAR REACTION

In the present investigation, bacterial isolates from infected apricot trees grown in the vicinity of Erzurum (Turkey) were studied. A total of 104 bacterial isolates were obtained from diseased apricot samples and identified as Pseudomonas spp. Most of these strains (75 of 104) proved to belong to the genus Pseudomonas upon further identification. The results of the HR (hypersensitive reaction) and pathogenicity tests showed that 67 of the strains belonged to P. syringae pv. syringae, whereas the others were HR negative and non-pathogenic on apricot. Data of resistance studies suggested that none of the tested apricot cultivars were resistant to P. syringae pv. syringae. It was determined that the most susceptible cultivar was Hacihaliloglu and the tolerant cultivars were Sekerpare, Roxana and Hasanbey.