Abstract
The red turnip, Brassica campestris L. (rapifera group), “cv. Atsumi-kabu” grown in burnt fields in Atsumi-machi, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, showed wilting followed by yellow discoloration of leaves from September to October in 1986. A few small, water-soaked soft-rot lesions were formed on the bases of leaf petioles and the roots. They gradually developed, and finally whole plants decayed. Soft-rot Erwinia-like bacteria were predominantly isolated from the diseased plants. Pathogenicities and bacteriological characteristics of the isolates were identical with those of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. From these results, the present symptoms on the red turnip, “Atsumi-kabu”, was suggested to be caused by E. carotovora subsp. carotovora. This is the first report on the occurrence of soft rot on the vegetables in burnt fields in Japan.
