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Molecular characterization of Ralstonia solanacearum strains from Ethiopia and tracing potential source of bacterial wilt disease outbreak in seed potatoes
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2017-02-06
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Abdurahman, A., Griffin, D., Elphinstone, J., Struik, P. C., Schulz, S., Schulte-Geldermann, E., & Sharma, K. (2017). Molecular characterization of Ralstonia solanacearumstrains from Ethiopia and tracing potential source of bacterial wilt disease outbreak in seed potatoes. Plant Pathology, 66(5), 826–834. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppa.12661
Abstract
Bacterial wilt, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is emerging as a major threat to potato production in Ethiopia,
reaching epidemic proportions in the Chencha district recently, with a prevalence of 97% of potato fields in 2015. The
recent disease outbreak in the district coincided with a significant introduction of seed potatoes. This research was
therefore initiated to genetically characterize the pathogen so as to trace its source, identify its relationship with outbreaks
in the rest of the country, and make intervention recommendations. Ralstonia solanacearum isolates were sampled
both from seed and ware potato fields in Chencha and from seed potato fields in production regions suspected of
being potential sources of the pathogen. Multiplex PCR and phylogenetic analysis of partial endoglucanase gene
sequences identified all of the isolates as phylotype IIB sequevar 1. VNTR sequence analysis distinguished 11 different
haplotypes, nine of which were unique to the Chencha district. However, one of the haplotypes was common to all
seed potato producer regions of Ethiopia except for the Shashemene area. The unique and diverse VNTR haplotypes of
the pathogen in Chencha indicates that it is well established in the district. When a geographical map of the VNTR
haplotypes was superimposed with the main cross-regional seed potato distribution pattern of the country, it became
evident that the pathogen was being disseminated via latently infected seed from the Holeta-Jeldu area in the Central
Highlands of Ethiopia. Identification of largely uninfected highland districts and multiplication of high-grade seed
potato exclusively in those districts should be given priority.