TITLE Leaf, stem and crown galls on perennial asters caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens in Taiwan
AUTHOR Fure-Chyi Chen
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Department of Plant Industry, Nei-pu, Pingtung 91207, Taiwan
Shiow-Huey Hseu
Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Department of Plant Pathology, Wu-feng, Taichung 413, Taiwan
Shio-Tau Hung
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Department of Plant Industry, Nei-pu, Pingtung 91207, Taiwan
Ming-Chao Chen
Kao-Hsiung District Agricultural Improvement Station, Pingtung City, Pingtung 900, Taiwan
Chien-Yih Lin
Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Department of Plant Pathology, Wu-feng, Taichung 413, Taiwan
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ABSTRACT Leaf, stem, and crown galls induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens were observed on field grown perennial asters (Aster spp.). Plants of purple flowers were more susceptible to infection than white flowers. The occurrence ranged from 25% in white flowered and 90% in purple flowered plants. Galls also occurred on leaves wounded by insect bites or mechanical shearing. Agrobacterium tumefaciens was isolated from crown and leaf galls with a selective medium NASA. The bacterial isolate was identified as A. tumefaciens using the Biolog GN system. Inoculation of selected A. tumefaciens strains on Kalanchoe pinnata leaves resulted in gall formation 8~10 days afterward. Several other A. tumefaciens strains from different gall samples also caused gall formation 6~8 days after inoculating on the stems of tobacco, and tomato seedlings. Re-inoculating virulent strains by scissors onto healthy aster leaves also induced galls 10 to 12 days after cut-inoculation. Biochemical tests of most Agrobacterium strains from aster galls showed that they belong to biovar 1.
KEYWORD Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Aster sp.; Biovar 1; Crown gall; Selective medium;
ARTICLE INFO Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 40 Number 3 July 1999, page 237-242, 6 pages
PUBLISHER Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China