ETIOLOGíA DE LA MUERTE DESCENDENTE DEL DURAZNERO [Prunus persica (L.) BATSCH] EN LOS MUNICIPIOS DE MANIZALES Y VILLAMARíA, DEPARTAMENTO DE CALDAS

a disease in peach trees [prunus persica (l.) batsch] was dectected in the municipalities of villamaría and manizales (caldas) with an incidence of 100%. the symptoms of the disease were flaccidity of the leaves, defoliation and drying of branches. infected plants showed lesions resembling cankers with gum exudation. a gram negative and fluorescent bacterium was isolated from diseased tissues in king's b and nutrient agar media. the lopat tests showed: levano positive; oxidase, potato soft rot, arginine dihydrolase negative; and positive tobacco hypersensitivity reaction in tobacco plants. the pathogenicity of the bacterium was demonstrated by inoculating one year old peach trees, which showed similar symptoms to those observed in the field. both biochemical and physiological tests indicated that the bacterium causing the dieback in peach at the department of caldas belongs to pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae