SENSITIVITY SCREENING OF COMMONLY GROWN STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS TOWARDS ANGULAR LEAF SPOT CAUSED BY XANTHOMONAS FRAGARIAE

Inoculation of the abaxial surfaces of young leaves of nine commonly grown strawberry cultivars resulted in a differential disease susceptibility towards Xanthomonas fragariae. Inoculum was sprayed under pressure with a spray gun device, producing small wounds by which bacteria enter directly inside the tissue and induce the typical symptoms of angular leaf spot caused by Xanthomonas fragariae. Infection grade was calculated using the formula of Townsend-Heuberger and was measured on a two week basis during nursery and production. The experiment performed in this study enabled a ranking of the cultivars according to disease resistance, but preliminary only based on one infection technique.