FIREBLIGHT OF POME FRUIT TREES IN TURKEY: DISTRIBUTION OF THE DISEASE, CHEMICAL CONTROL OF BLOSSOM INFECTIONS AND SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SOME CULTIVARS

Fire blight of pome fruit trees was first recorded Turkey in some pear orchards of central and western part of Anatolia in 1985. The disease is now distributed practically in most of the pear, quince and apple growing regions of Turkey. Moreover the infection was also observed on some Pyrus spp, Eriobotrya japonica, Pyracantha spp., Crataegus spp and Mespilus germania.

Thirty-two isolates of E. amylovora from different hosts and different locations were obtained. It was determined that these isolates had the same morphological and physiological charcters when compared with NCPPB 595 strain used in experiments as a reference culture.

The levels of the sensitivity of these isolates were tested in vitro against streptomycin sulfate and Minimum Inhibition Consentrations (MIC) were 2–10 μg/ml.

Aliette (phosetyl-aluminium). Copac E (Cupro ammonium), Agrimicina (streptomycin) and Cuprovit (Copper oxychloride) have been tested in trems of the control of blossom infections under orchard conditions. Sprays with relatively high dosage on blossom of pear were effective in reducing the number of infections.

In addition, the reactions of 15 apple, 23 pear and 6 quince cultivars grown widely in Turkey were investigated against fireblight.