Variability of aggressiveness and virulence of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovorum causing the soft rot on potato tubers in the western of Algeria

Soft rot symptoms were observed on potato plants in several potato cultivars in the western part of Algeria. A total of four strains of Erwinia are devided as follow: i) three strains of bacteria isolated from diseased tissues and soil, identified as Erwinia carotovora subsp carotovorum using conventional bacteriological and biochemical methods; and ii) one strain as Erwinia sp, not pathogens. In vitro tests, on tuber slices were set up to determine slices weight lost, which allows to find differences in cultivar susceptibility and isolate aggressiveness. Among the five cultivars, Laura was the most susceptible than the others tested cultivars. Moreover, it was found that MAI isolate was the most virulent than the other bacterial isolates. The results of this study should allow an optimization of the potato storage, after considering the susceptibility of a given cultivar to soft rot development and the aggressiveness.