Identification of the Causal Agent of Bacterial Wheat Leaf Blight in Fars and Kohgiluyeh & Boyrahmad Provinces and the Reaction of Certain Wheat Cultivars to Them

During the period from 1997 to 1998, samples of wheat leaves were collected from different wheat farms in Fars and Kohgiluyeh & Boyrahmad provinces to identify the causal agent of wheat leaf blight. On the basis of LOPAT tests and production of fluorescent pigment on KB medium, 181 bacterial isolates were recovered from the samples. Based on biochemical, physiological and pathogenicity tests, the isolates were categorized in five groups. One group was found to be Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf) and the remaining groups were identified as P. syringae pv. syringae (Pss). The pathogenicity test indicated that Pss strains were the causal agent of bacterial wheat leaf blight in Fars and Kohgiluyeh & Boyrahmad provinces. Whole protein electrophoretic patterns were similar in Pss isolates but only a few showed small variation in some subordinated bands. Pathogenic strains of Pss were also isolated from annual and perennial weeds such as foxtail, hairy vetch, oat grass, barley grass and Cynodon dactylon in some areas including Saadat Shahr and Marvdasht. Among the wheat cultivars tested, Tajan was susceptible to the pathogen but others were immune, resistant, moderately resistant, or moderately susceptible. The results showed that Pss is a seed-born pathogen in wheat kernel perhaps as endophyte in the seeds.