Fire Blight on Pear, a New Disease in Israel. D. Zutra, Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Centre, Bet Dagan, Israel. E. Shabi, and G. Lazarovits, Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Centre, Bet Dagan, Israel. Plant Dis. 70:1071-1073. Accepted for publication 7 March 1986. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1986. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-1071.

In early May 1985, symptoms characteristic of fire blight of pear were observed in an orchard in the Upper Jordan Valley of Israel. An extensive survey of other pear orchards revealed similar symptoms in eight pear orchards throughout the country. Inoculation of immature pear fruits with suspected isolates produced whitish bacterial exudates 76 hr after infection. Pathogenic isolates induced a hypersensitive reaction in tobacco leaves. In agglutination assays and dot-ELISA, the eight Israeli isolates reacted in a manner identical to that of the reference cultures with three sera: two produced against confirmed isolates of Erwinia amylovora and one against an Israeli suspect.