ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF XANTHOMONAS EUVESICATORIA CAUSING BACTERIAL SPOT OF EGGPLANT IN CHINA

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important solanaceous vegetable and economic crop in the world. It is a very popular and nutrient rich vegetable, and it can be grown round the year in China. In September 2023, a suspected bacterial disease of the eggplant was found in the Greenhouse Eggplant Seedling Production Base in Tieling, Liaoning Province, China. The disease symptom was water-soaked tawny or light brown spots on eggplant seedling leaves, that gradually became black. Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from the infected leaf spots. Based on the phenotypic characteristics, bacteriological characteristics, physiological and biochemical tests and molecular biological identification, the bacteria isolates obtained in this study were identified as Xanthomonas euvesicatoria. Pathogenicity of these isolates was confirmed on ground tomato and pepper seedlings by artificial inoculation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of X. euvesicatoria causing bacterial spot of eggplant in China.