Bacterial fruit blotch of watermelon in Serbia

During the summer of 2014, watermelon producers in the north of Serbia (Srem district), observed the occurrence of irregularly shaped, water-soaked lesions on mature watermelon fruits indicating possible bacterial nature of the disease. Bacteria were isolated from symptomatic samples and identified as Acidovorax citrulli, previously described as a causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch. In the past few years, this pathogen caused considerable damage to the watermelon industry of the United States where, in some commercial production sectors, the loss of marketable fruit reached 90%. In Serbia, it is considered a quarantine pathogen and was not recorded until 2014.
U leto 2014. godine, proizvođači lubenice iz sremskog okruga uočili su pojavu simptoma u vidu pega vodenastog izgleda i nepravilnog oblika na zrelim plodovima lubenice, koji su ukazivali na oboljenje bakteriozne prirode. Izolacijom i identifikacijom patogena, utvrđeno je prisustvo bakterije Acidovorax citrulli, prouzrokovača bakteriozne mrljavosti plodova lubenice. Ova vrsta je u skorije vreme dosta dobila na značaju, posebno zbog gubitaka u proizvodnji koji su u pojedinim oblastima Sjedinjenih Američkih Država (SAD) dostizali i 90% od ukupnog prinosa. U Srbiji A. citrulli ima karantinski status i nalazi se na A1 listi Evropske i mediteranske organizacije za zaštitu bilja (EPPO).