Tomato bacterial diseases in West Azerbaijan province of Iran

Tomato is one of the most important and most widely consumed vegetable in the world. Tomato also is one of the most important products in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran, which plays an important role in the province's agricultural economy. Accurate bacterial disease diagnosis is the first and most important step in designation methods of disease management.

Tomato farms in the suburbs of the province cities were visited and diseased plants were sampled. Bacteria were isolated and purified from patient tissues and identified based on phenotypic and molecular characteristics. The bacterial pathogenicity test was performed according to Koch principles.

Tomato bacterial pathogens in this province include Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, Xanthomonas vesicatoria, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, P. syringae pv. syringae and Dickya chrysanthemi, agents of bacterial canker,  bacterial spot, bacterial speck,  syringe leaf spot and soft stem rot. Disease symptoms, phenotypic and molecular properties of pathogenic bacteria, previous reports on these bacteria from Iran and their distribution in different regions of West Azerbaijan Province are presented.

These bacteria, with the exception of the tomato bacterial canker agent, are reported for the first time from West Azerbaijan province.