Development of a system for testing apple resistance to erwinia amylovora using in vitro culture techniques

Abstract

The suitability of different in vitro artificial inoculation methods for testing apple resistance to fire blight was evaluated. Six proliferation MS media containing BAP, TDZ or 2iP were tested to determine favourable conditions for shoot development. Out of the tested cytokinins, only media with BAP proved to be useful for all tested cultivars for artificial inoculation with Erwinia amylovora. Out of three tested inoculation methods, removal of 3 mm of the shoot apex with scissors and transfer of bacterial suspension by pipette (method 1) appeared to be the most suitable technique. This method enabled the determination of susceptibility of two cultivars due to the different speed of fire blight symptom development.