Plant Pathology Science

Najafiniya  M.,  Bagheri  A., Azadvar M. & Salehi M. 2016. The situation of witches broom disease of sour lime in Iran. Plant Pathology Science 5(2):23-31.

Lime is one of the most important economic and horticultural plants in the southern part of Iran. Among the diseases of citrus in south of Iran, Witches Broom Disease of Lime (WBDL) is one of the major citrus diseases. The causal agent of WBDL is a phytoplasma with the proposed name, Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia. The symptoms of disease start with appearance of witches broom at one-side of the infected tree. The disease then spread to whole parts of plant showing leaf proliferation, shortened internodes, small and pale green leaves, no formation of any spine, flower or fruit and finally death of the infected plants. To control the disease, integrated management and cultural practices has shown to be effective methods. Elimination of symptomatic trees as well of the newly emerged infected branches, chemical or mechanical weed control and a periodic spraying by systemic pesticides against the vector insect, or a combination of these methods is highly recommended. Among the control measures, chemical control of the vector has showed is very effective for reducing the disease spread and severity.

Bacterial canker disease is one of the most destructive diseases of walnut trees that causes die back and plant decline and also great damages to quality and quantity of fruits. The disease can be observed in two forms, at depth and the surface of the bark which cause by two bacteria, Brenneria nigrifluens and B. rubrifaciens, respectively. The most important way of the pathogen penetration is the wounds in the trunk and branches which are occurred due to human ‎activities or mechanical harvesting equipment. The disease becomes severe with the deep irrigation and when the nutrition is insufficient and ‎temperature and humidity are high.‎ Current paper explains history, importance, symptoms, biology, host range, sampling and isolation method also differential characteristics of bacteria and methods of disease management.