Detection of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, the causal agent of bacterial canker on Unshiu orange fruits using bacteriophage in Korea.

A technique for detection of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, a causal bacterium of canker on Unshiu orange fruits, was developed using bacteriophage. Procedure for the detection was designed on the basis of the previous reports that one group(CPI) of X. axonopodis pv. citri bacteriophage and corresponding two Iysotypes distributed in Korea. First, fruit surface was washed with sterile distilled water and pellet was obtained from centrifugation. The pellet was resuspended in Wakimoto's potato semi-synthetic broth medium and divided equally into two parts. One part was heated in boiling water to kill bacterial cells. Bacteriophages(CP$_1$) were respectively added into two parts and 0.1 ml from each part was mixed with soft agar medium. After incubation for 18 hrs at 25$^{\circ}C$, the causal bacterium of canker was determined based on plaques formed on the medium. This procedure can be effectively used for detection of living bacterial pathogen on fruit surfaces of Unshiu orange.