Brenneria quercina and Serratia spp. isolated from Spanish oak trees:: molecular characterization and development of PCR primers

Brenneria quercina has been reported as one of the causal agents of oak decline in Spain. To investigate the bacterial variability of this pathogen from different Spanish oak forests, a collection of 38 bacterial isolates from seven geographic locations and from different oak species was analysed by sequencing 16S rDNA and rep-PCR fingerprinting. All Spanish isolates of B. quercina were grouped by rep-PCR into a homogenous cluster that differed significantly from B. quercina reference strains from California. 16S rDNA analysis revealed that 34 out of 38 isolates were Brenneria. However, four isolates belonged to the genus Serratia, suggesting that this bacterium could cause cankers in oak trees. The information obtained by rep-PCR fingerprint analysis was used to develop PCR primers for the sensitive and specific detection of B. quercina from infected plant tissues. Pathogenicity tests performed with Brenneria and Serratia isolates showed that both were able to grow and cause cankers in oak trees.