Heat Treatment Effects on Strawberry Plant Survival and Angular Leaf Spot, Caused by Xanthomonas fragariae, in Nursery Production.

Angular leaf spot is an important disease in strawberry nursery production. The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) lists Xanthomonas fragariae as an A2 quarantine pathogen. Therefore, nurseries wishing to export plants to European countries must maintain phytosanitary standards to exclude X. fragariae. To help nurseries achieve these standards, heat treatment for killing or reducing the number of viable bacterial cells in strawberry crown tissue was investigated. First, the sensitivity of bacteria to heat was determined by dispensing 1-ml aliquots of standardized cell suspensions in microcentrifuge tubes for each of four isolates of X. fragariae, including the type culture, and submerging the tubes in water at 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, and 56°C for 0, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240, 360, and 480 min. Bacteria were transferred to growth medium to determine the proportion surviving heat treatment. Two trials were conducted in a greenhouse to determine the sensitivity of bare-root plants to heat treatment. In the first trial, plants of cvs. Camarosa and Diamante from two different nurseries were heat treated as follows: (i) plants placed in metallic mesh cages and immersed directly into water (industry standard, direct dip); (ii) plants sealed in a plastic bag and the bag immersed in water (bagged dry); or (iii) plants wetted in warm water, sealed in a plastic bag, and then immersed in water (bagged wet). Plants were treated at 44 or 48°C for 0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 min. In the second trial, plants of cvs. Camarosa, Camino Real, Diamante, Oso Grande, Strawberry Festival, and Ventana from a single nursery were subjected to the same treatments. In both trials, plants were potted after treatment and rated for growth characteristics. Results showed that populations of bacteria exposed to 56 and 52°C were killed completely after 15 and 60 min of exposure, respectively; both treatments killed plants. Bacterial populations exposed to 44°C for 4 h or 48°C for 2 h were reduced by 10 or 10 CFU/ml. The same treatments minimally affected vegetative growth of plants bagged dry or wet, but flowering was adversely affected. These heat treatments were selected for testing of nursery stock of several cultivars in field trials established at two locations in successive years. The survival rate among cultivars was similar to that observed in greenhouse trials, and angular leaf spot developed appreciably only in non-heat-treated control plots. Heat treatment of strawberry nursery stock is feasible and can be used to supplement standard production practices for producing pathogen-free nursery stock.