Identification and Spread of Erwinia amylovora on Pear in Turkey. M. Timur Momol, Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Akdeniz, Antalya, Turkey. Wolfgang Zeller, Federal Biological Research Centre, Institute for Plant Protection in Fruit Crops, 6915 Dossenheim, Germany. Plant Dis. 76:1114-1116. Accepted for publication 13 July 1992. Copyright 1992 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-76-1114.

Diagnostic and pathogenicity tests of two isolates of bacteria from blighted pear trees in Turkey were compared with tests of known isolates of Erwinia amylovora. Turkish isolates formed orange-yellow colonies with deep orange centers and clear margins on modified Miller-Schroth medium; they did not fluoresce under ultraviolet light when grown on King’s medium B. Bacterial ooze was produced on immature pear fruit, and susceptible pear shoots were blighted in 6 days. Based on these tests, the two Turkish isolates were positively identified as Erwinia amylovora. The pattern of spread of fire blight in the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean area since 1982 suggests that infections in Turkey may be part of an expanding epidemic originating in Egypt.