Prevalence of Xanthomonas euvesicatoria on Pepper in Brazil

Bacterial spot, caused by Xanthomonas spp., is one of the major diseases of pepper in Brazil, causing considerable losses to crop productivity. The efficient management of the disease is hampered by the high variability of the causal agents. In Brazil, there is no knowledge of which species of Xanthomonas occurs on pepper. In this study, 59 strains of Xanthomonas spp. isolated from different pepper-producing regions of Brazil were characterized by biochemical and molecular techniques. Results showed the prevalence of X.euvesicatoria as the causal agent of bacterial spot on pepper in Brazil.