Bacterial angular leafspot disease (BALD) of strawberry, caused by Xanthomonas fragariae, a slow-growing and often difficult pathogen to isolate from infected plants, is most commonly manifested as small discrete, angular, translucent lesions on leaves and sepals. As the bacteria infect systemically, plants may wilt and die. BALD has become increasingly important in North America and other strawberry-growing areas of the world. The systemic nature of the pathogen also is cause for concern with international shipment of strawberry plants, especially because there is no practical method for determining the presence of the bacteria in symptomless, infected plants, nor is there a practical method of chemical control. All cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa (8×) are susceptible to BALD, although a range of susceptibility is often apparent in plantings. Resistant genotypes have been reported among clones of F. virginiana (8×), F. moschata (6×), and F. vesca (2×). A program has been initiated to evaluate native octoploid and diploid strawberry germplasm for resistance to BALD.
Somatic embryogenesis, tetraploidy, and variant leaf morphology in transgenic diploid strawberry (Fragaria vesca subspecies vesca ‘Hawaii 4’)