Isolation and identification of citrus canker bacteria in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province

Citrus bacterial canker is an economically important disease in many tropical and subtropical countries and caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri. Several pathotypes of this pathogen have been described that primarily distinguished by their geographical origin, host range and certain genotypic characteristics Leaves, fruits and twinges samples of ‘Mexican 'lime, with bacterial canker symptoms were collected from Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in 2012. The bacterial strains were isolated from infected tissues using classic methods and primary identification of bacterial isolates was performed based on phenotypic characterization. Pathogenicity of isolates was approved on leaves of Mexican lime. Based on the disease symptoms, phenotypic and pathogenicity tests, PCR test by using specific primers and sequencing data of histidine kinase gene, the isolates were identified as Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri. This is the first report of the disease and the causal bacterium in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.