Florida is the largest producer of fresh-market tomatoes in the United States. [1] [2]
Florida is the largest producer of fresh-market tomatoes in the United States. [1] [2]
Harvest is almost year-round, from October to June. [1] The highest temperatures of the summer from July to September end profitable yield and even the heat of June and October limit productivity, such that April to May and November to January are the largest harvests of the year. [1] Federal Crop Insurance for fresh tomatoes specifically excludes insects and diseases. [3]
Tomato Bacterial Spot is caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria. Tomato Bacterial Speck is produced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Both are economically significant in fresh-market tomato here. [4]
Acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) is a plant activator producing systemic acquired resistance (SAR). [4] In a very widely regarded experiment Louws et al., 2001 used ASM to protect fresh tomato cultivation here against Tomato Bacterial Spot and Tomato Bacterial Speck. [4] Over four years they treated with ASM as an alternative to copper bactericide and achieved almost total control with no yield loss. [4] (Some fungicides were required to complement the bacterial control of ASM.) [4] This result is spoken of worldwide when discussing basic plant biology, SAR, induced systemic resistance, the biology of Xanthomonads, and the need for alternative pesticides due to resistance, including phage therapy in agriculture.[ citation needed ]
The Florida tomato industry has historically relied on migrant labor. [5] Exploitation of that labor was widespread with the town of Immokalee, Florida being "known as ground zero for modern day slavery." [6]
Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard in a single growing season.
The potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) was the first viroid to be identified. PSTVd is a small, single stranded circular RNA molecule closely related to the chrysanthemum stunt viroid. Present within the viroidal RNA is the Pospiviroid RY motif stem loop common to its genus. The natural hosts are potatoes and tomatoes. All potatoes and tomatoes are susceptible to PSTVd and there is no form of natural resistance. Natural infections have also been seen in avocados and infections in other solanaceous crops have been induced in the laboratory. Until 2017 PSTVd was thought to be unable to infect Solanum sisymbriifolium. Then in May seeds exported by a Dutch company were noticed to be infected. These seeds were shipped from the company, but had been originally bred to their specifications in two Asian countries. Pstv also causes Tomato bunchy top and is seed transmitted in tomato. it contains single stranded RNA without protein coat.
Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a "whole-plant" resistance response that occurs following an earlier localized exposure to a pathogen. SAR is analogous to the innate immune system found in animals, and although there are many shared aspects between the two systems, it is thought to be a result of convergent evolution. The systemic acquired resistance response is dependent on the plant hormone, salicylic acid.
Xylella fastidiosa is an aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium of the genus Xylella. It is a plant pathogen, that grows in the water transport tissues of plants and is transmitted exclusively by xylem sap-feeding insects such as sharpshooters and spittlebugs. Many plant diseases are due to infections of X. fastidiosa, including bacterial leaf scorch, oleander leaf scorch, coffee leaf scorch (CLS), alfalfa dwarf, phony peach disease, and the economically important Pierce's disease of grapes (PD), olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS), and citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC). While the largest outbreaks of X. fastidiosa–related diseases have occurred in the Americas and Europe, this pathogen has also been found in Taiwan, Israel, and a few other countries worldwide.
Pseudomonas syringae is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium with polar flagella. As a plant pathogen, it can infect a wide range of species, and exists as over 50 different pathovars, all of which are available to researchers from international culture collections such as the NCPPB, ICMP, and others.
Xanthomonas is a genus of bacteria, many of which cause plant diseases. There are at least 27 plant associated Xanthomonas spp., that all together infect at least 400 plant species. Different species typically have specific host and/or tissue range and colonization strategies.
Pantoea agglomerans is a Gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the family Erwiniaceae.
Plant disease resistance protects plants from pathogens in two ways: by pre-formed structures and chemicals, and by infection-induced responses of the immune system. Relative to a susceptible plant, disease resistance is the reduction of pathogen growth on or in the plant, while the term disease tolerance describes plants that exhibit little disease damage despite substantial pathogen levels. Disease outcome is determined by the three-way interaction of the pathogen, the plant, and the environmental conditions.
Black rot, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc), is considered the most important and most destructive disease of crucifers, infecting all cultivated varieties of brassicas worldwide. This disease was first described by botanist and entomologist Harrison Garman in Lexington, Kentucky, US in 1889. Since then, it has been found in nearly every country in which vegetable brassicas are commercially cultivated.
Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), or banana bacterial wilt (BBW) or enset wilt is a bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum. After being originally identified on a close relative of banana, Ensete ventricosum, in Ethiopia in the 1960s, BXW emanated in Uganda in 2001 affecting all types of banana cultivars. Since then BXW has been diagnosed in Central and East Africa including banana growing regions of: Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Uganda.
Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria is a bacterium that causes bacterial leaf spot (BLS) on peppers and tomatoes. It is a gram-negative and rod-shaped. It causes symptoms throughout the above-ground portion of the plant including leaf spots, fruit spots and stem cankers. Since this bacterium cannot live in soil for more than a few weeks and survives as inoculum on plant debris, removal of dead plant material and chemical applications to living plants are considered effective control mechanisms.
Bacterial blight of cotton is a disease affecting the cotton plant resulting from infection by Xanthomonas axonopodis pathovar malvacearum (Xcm) a Gram negative, motile rod-shaped, non spore-forming bacterium with a single polar flagellum
Beet vascular necrosis and rot is a soft rot disease caused by the bacterium Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. betavasculorum, which has also been known as Pectobacterium betavasculorum and Erwinia carotovora subsp. betavasculorum. It was classified in the genus Erwinia until genetic evidence suggested that it belongs to its own group; however, the name Erwinia is still in use. As such, the disease is sometimes called Erwinia rot today. It is a very destructive disease that has been reported across the United States as well as in Egypt. Symptoms include wilting and black streaks on the leaves and petioles. It is usually not fatal to the plant, but in severe cases the beets will become hollowed and unmarketable. The bacteria is a generalist species which rots beets and other plants by secreting digestive enzymes that break down the cell wall and parenchyma tissues. The bacteria thrive in warm and wet conditions, but cannot survive long in fallow soil. However, it is able to persist for long periods of time in the rhizosphere of weeds and non-host crops. While it is difficult to eradicate, there are cultural practices that can be used to control the spread of the disease, such as avoiding injury to the plants and reducing or eliminating application of nitrogen fertilizer.
Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is a bacterial pathovar that causes a serious blight of rice, other grasses, and sedges.
Agriculture plays a major role in the history and economy of the American state of Florida. Florida's relatively warm climate gives it a competitive position for many markets in the United States. Florida produces the majority of citrus fruit grown in the United States. Bell peppers, tomatoes, sugarcane, peaches, strawberries, and watermelons are also important crops. Florida produces a small amount of wine.
Robert Harry Stover was a Canadian-Honduran phytopathologist specializing in Musa crops and their fungal diseases.
Samuel S. Gnanamanickam is an Indian plant pathologist. He is known for his research on diversity of rice pathogens, molecular breeding of indica rices for disease resistance and for developing superior strains of beneficial strains of rhizosphere bacteria for biological control of rice diseases. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and National Academy of Biological Sciences of India and was Chair of the biological control committee at the American Phytopathological Society.
Xanthomonas pruni is a bacterial disease of almost all Prunus.
Xanthomonas campestris pv. raphani is a gram-negative, obligate aerobic bacterium that like many other Xanthomonas spp. bacteria has been found associated with plants. This organism is closely related with Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, but causes a non-vascular leaf spot disease that is clearly distinct from black rot of brassicas.
