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Outbreak of tomato wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in Tamil Nadu, India and elucidation of its genetic relationship using multilocus sequence typing (MLST)

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Abstract

High incidence of wilt disease (35–45%) of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was recently observed in two different locations of Tamil Nadu state of India. Infected plants showed typical wilt symptoms which include sudden green wilting of foliage followed by drooping of leaves downwards. The characteristic white milky ooze observed on the cut end of infected stem indicated bacterial etiology. Upon isolation, bacterium produced white fluidal irregular colonies with characteristic pink center on 2, 3, 5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride amended nutrient medium. The bacterium caused typical green wilting 4–5 days post inoculation (dpi) on one month old tomato plants. The identity of bacterium was confirmed as Ralstonia solanacearum using 16S rRNA gene sequences as well as by R. solanacearum specific PCR. Further studies confirmed that the bacterium belonged to race 1 and biovar 3. In depth genetic characterization using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed that the wilt outbreaks in Tamil Nadu were caused by genetically distinct race 1 strains of R. solanacearum. While the isolate, TRsR found clustered with R. solanacearum isolates previously reported from Andaman and Nicobar Islands-India, TRsP is clustered with isolates reported from Kerala, India. The results of our MLST based genetic analysis clearly indicated horizontal spread of bacterial wilt disease of tomato as a consequence of pathogen migration with the expansion of cultivation in India.

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Acknowledgements

We thank to University Grants Commission (UGC) for providing financial assistance to carry out this study. Various facilities provided by the Head of the department, Professors and colleagues, Department of Plant Pathology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, are gratefully acknowledged. Authors are grateful to Director, ICAR-IARI for all facilities. We are thankful to Boris Vinatzer, Virginia Tech, for assigning allele numbers and adding the details of new isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum from Tamil Nadu, India in PAMDB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641003, India

    A. Balamurugan, M. Muthamilan & A. Kamalakannan

  2. Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    A. Kumar, M. Vibhuti, M. Ashajyothi & N. Sheoran

  3. Division of Field Crop Improvement and Protection, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 744101, India

    K. Sakthivel

  4. Department of Nematology, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641003, India

    A. Shanthi

  5. Department of Vegetable Crops, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641003, India

    T. Arumugam

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  1. A. Balamurugan
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  2. A. Kumar
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Correspondence to A. Kumar.

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Balamurugan, A., Kumar, A., Muthamilan, M. et al. Outbreak of tomato wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in Tamil Nadu, India and elucidation of its genetic relationship using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Eur J Plant Pathol 151, 831–839 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-017-1414-3

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