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BACTERIAL CROWN ROT, PAPAYA - AUSTRALIA: (QUEENSLAND) ALERT
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[1]
Date: Sat 24 October 2009
Source: North Queensland Register [edited]
<http://nqr.farmonline.com.au/news/state/horticulture/general/foreign-papaya-seeds-time-bomb/1656601.aspx>
&
Fresh Plaza
<http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=52887>
Foreign papaya seeds brought into Australia that carry the exotic
plant disease bacterial crown rot (BCR) could devastate Queensland's
growing [AUD] 30 million [approx USD 27.1 million] papaya industry.
Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) senior plant
pathologist Lynton Vawdrey is urging papaya producers to avoid
importing seeds from countries where BCR is known to occur. "I have
been most concerned about this disease since seeing firsthand the
devastation bacterial crown rot has caused in the Philippines and
reading about similar losses in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the
Caribbean," Mr Vawdrey said. "Much of the Caribbean papaya industry
has been wiped out and in Malaysia an area twice the size of
Australia's entire industry was destroyed within 3 years."
"Research conducted in the Philippines shows that the bacterium that
causes the disease can be carried in the seed," Mr Vawdrey said. "The
infection of the seed cavity and the rapid spread of the disease in
Malaysia strongly indicate that seed is a likely means of transmission."
Symptoms of the disease include yellowing along leaf edges and
water-soaked areas on the bases of leaf stalks, crowns, and along leaf
mid-ribs. The fruit can have large dark spots on the skin and
water-soaked flesh. In advanced stages, the water-soaked leaf stalks
will bend, leading to dieback and death of the trees.
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[2]
Date: Fri 16 Oct 2009
Source: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Rural News [edited]
<http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200910/s2715984.htm>
Warning about papaya disease
----------------------------
The Queensland Primary Industries Department is warning the country's
papaya growers that if the bacterial crown rot disease gets into
Australia, it would cost millions of dollars and devastate the industry.
Bacterial crown rot, or BCR, infects the fruit, discolouring it and
making it unsaleable. The disease doesn't exist in Australia, but
could be brought in by imported seeds.
Chairman of Papaya Australia and Far North Queensland grower Gerard
Kath says while the importation of papaya seeds is restricted, it's
not enough, and producers of the fruit need to increase their
awareness of diseases. "While it may be a huge threat, most growers
probably think, oh we'll see what happens," he says. "Our view is try
and do whatever possible to prevent it coming in the 1st place."
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[Bacterial dieback (also called crown rot or bacterial canker) of
papaya emerged during the 1980s in different islands of the Caribbean.
In 2004, _Erwinia papayae_ was characterised and described as a novel
species associated with the disease. Symptoms generally include
greasy, water-soaked lesions and leaf spots, as well as water-soaked
cankers on the stem, which may lead to death of the tree. Fruit
symptoms included dark spots on the skin and water-soaked flesh.
Secondary fungal infections often follow.
The bacterium was first detected in Malaysia in the state of Johor in
2003 and has spread rapidly in that country since then, destroying
more than one million papaya plants. Since seed transmission as well
as local spread by insects and mechanical means is suspected, strict
quarantine measures are needed to prevent entry of this pathogen to
new areas.
Several other species of the genus _Erwinia_ have also been reported
to be associated with diseases in papaya, including _E. herbicola_ and
_E. cypripedii_ (black rot). In Australia, a papaya dieback due to a
phytoplasma is also affecting the crop.
Maps
Australia:
<http://www.ga.gov.au/image_cache/GA4073.jpg> and
<http://healthmap.org/r/008N>
Queensland:
<http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/qld/map.gif>
Pictures of _E. papayae_ BCR on papaya via:
<http://www.bspp.org.uk/ndr/july2008/2008-09.asp> and
<http://uptktsb.blogspot.com/2009/03/maklumat-serangan-penyakit-mati-rosot.html>
Links
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service BCR information and alert:
<http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_topiccontent.asp?TopicType=Quarantine+Alert&TopicID=22599>
Characterisation on _E. papayae_ and disease description:
<http://ijs.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/54/1/107>
_E. papayae_ taxonomy:
<http://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/206499>
Genus _Erwinia_ species list and taxonomy:
<http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/e/erwinia.html>
Information on papaya BCR/dieback in Malaysia:
<http://www.bspp.org.uk/ndr/july2008/2008-09.asp> (1st report) and
<http://uptktsb.blogspot.com/2009/03/maklumat-serangan-penyakit-mati-rosot.html> (in Malay, with
pictures)
Information on papaya cultivation and diseases including BCR:
<http://www.bpi.da.gov.ph/Publications/productionguides/papaya.htm>. -
Mod.DHA]
[see also:
2008
----
Erwinia papayae, papaya - Malaysia: 1st report 20080723.2230]
........................................dha/mj/jw
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