Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Vegetables: cabbages, tomatoes
Practices
- Pest Management: chemical control
- Production Systems: organic agriculture
Abstract:
We confirmed that spray of low concentrations of Natrium acetate (NaAc) significantly compromised bacterial growth of syringe-inoculated Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, the causal agent of bacterial speck disease on tomato, suggesting the potential of NaAc as a new method to control Pseudomonas pathogens. The best concentration of NaAc to suppress bacterial growth of syringe-inoculated Pseudomonas has been identified as 1mM. However, the spray of 1mM NaAc did not significantly suppress the bacterial growth of surface-inoculated (dip-inoculated) Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. The possible application of NaAc as an effective bactericide for vegetables and other crops needs further investigation in diseased fields.
Introduction:
Pseudomonas syringae bacteria are causal agents of bacterial speck diseases on many crops such as tomato and bean. Conventional control methods such as various bactericide compounds, biological control strains and breeding approaches are not very effective due to the limitations of their uses. Organic growers need better options for dealing with bacterial diseases. Our preliminary results showed that spray of low concentrations of Natrium acetate (NaAc, the sodium salt of vinegar) significantly compromised bacterial growth and disease symptom development of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, the causal agent of bacterial speck disease on tomato, suggesting the potential of NaAc as a new method to control Pseudomonas pathogens.
Project objectives:
To further test the potential of NaAc, there are two objectives in this project:
1. We plan to assess and to optimize the NaAc recipes, which include NaAc concentrations, timing of spray and species of pathogens targeted. Preliminary investigation of efficacy of tested recipes will be conducted in the laboratory and greenhouse facilities on the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, KS.
2. With the conclusions drawn from assessment of greenhouse trials, we will test the optimized NaAc recipes on field trials at the Rocky Ford Research Center Farm in Manhattan and the K-State Horticulture Research and Extension Center in Olathe, KS. Ultimately, we will be able to determine which tested recipes work best against diseases of interest. The success of this research will provide farmers more options in controlling bacterial speck or other diseases and serve as a basis for further research on NaAc recipe as an effective organic bactericide.