Situation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae in Italy
In Italy, bacterial canker of kiwifruit caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (EPPO Alert List) was noticed for the first time in Lazio region (province of Latina) in 1992 where it remained sporadic and with a low incidence for 15 years. However, in 2007/2008 economic losses started to be observed particularly in the Lazio region (EPPO RS 2009/215). In 2009, the disease was reported to occur in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. In 2010, the NPPO of Italy informed the EPPO Secretariat that the bacterium was found for the first time in Piemonte region, in the municipalities of Saluzzo and Barge (province of Cuneo). In Veneto region, it was also detected in 2010 in the municipality of Caerano di San Marco (Treviso province) in an orchard of Actinidia chinensis cv. ‘Jin Tao’. Following the findings of P. syringae pv. actinidiae in Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte and Veneto, the Italian NPPO initiated specific research projects in order to identify effective control measures and contain the disease. Molecular studies of the population structure revealed that the strains isolated during 2008 and 2009 in Latina (Lazio) and Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) provinces are different from the Japanese and Korean strains, as well as from the Italian strains isolated in the past. These results suggest that the disease spread which is currently observed, in particular in Lazio, may be caused by a newly introduced population.
The situation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae in Italy can be described as follows: Present, first identified in 1992 in Lazio region; economic damage and spread started in 2007/2008, now present in Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Piemonte, and Veneto.
Sources
NPPO of Italy (2010-06, 2010-07, 2010-08).