Fire blight: study of host defense mechanisms and bacterial migration in host plant tissue

Abstract

E. amylovora causes the necrotic disease fire blight of most species of the Malaceae and of some species in other families of the Rosales. Apple and pear are economically the most important host species. Fire blight is a devastating disease as it can decimate apple and pear orchards in a single season. The severity of the disease is a matter of its destructive character, its ability to rapid dissemination and systemic distribution in the plant as well as the lack of effective control methods. This study on fire blight can be divided into two major parts. The first part is a study on the defense related reactions of apple leaves upon inoculation with f. amylovora. The second part is on the internal movement of the bacteria in apple and pear leaves and on the reaction of the leaf upon inoculation at the level of leaf chlorophyll fluorescence. ...The proteomics approach is another way to study the defense mechanisms. ...