Host relations and distribution of a physiological and pathological variant of Pseudomonas morsprunorum

SUMMARY In a plot of sweet‐cherry trees (Primus avium), leaf spot infections caused by Pseudomonas morsprunorum were more abundant on the cv. Roundel than on the normally more susceptible cv. Napoleon. Roundel also supported significantly higher leaf surface populations of the pathogen. This reversal in the relative field susceptibility of the two cultivars was associated with the presence on the trees of a variant form of P. morsprunorum that differed from typical strains in colony structure, gelatinase activity and pathological characters. The variant strains were less infective through leaf scars but more invasive in bark parenchyma than typical strains, and in branch and leaf inoculations, they showed specialization for the cv. Roundel. This specialization was reflected in the distribution of variant and typical strains on Roundel and Napoleon trees in other localities. The significance of the variant in relation to disease epidemiology and cultivar resistance is discussed. The variant is designated race 2 to distinguish it from the typical, or race 1 cherry strains of P. morsprunorum.