How do plants get blight?
Pantoea agglomerans
Research has shown that "Pantoea agglomerans" can serve as a plant pathogen competitor for the management of plant diseases. Fire blight, a plant disease caused by bacterium "Erwinia amylovora," is commonly found in pear and apple crops. After coming in contact with "Erwinia amylovora", "Pantoea agglomerans" produces antibiotic properties that are toxic to the fire blight-inducing bacterium. It has been identified that it is possible that habitat modification or exclusion may also play a role in the effectiveness of the antibiosis of the fire blight biological control.
Phomopsis obscurans
The symptoms of leaf blight infections begin as one to several circular reddish-purple spots, 3/8” to 1/2” in diameter on a leaflet and enlarge to form V-shaped lesions with a dark brown inner zone, a light brown outer zone, and a purple, red, or yellow perimeter. Lesions follow major veins progressing inward, which is what gives rise to the characteristic V-shaped lesions that result after the pathogen has established a strong infection in the plant tissue. The whole leaflet may turn yellow and then brown due to infection and subsequent necrosis of the plant tissue. In severe cases where the pathogen has progressed substantially, the stolons, fruit, and petioles of the leaf become infected and may girdle and kill the stem. The disease is commonly found in young tissue of the strawberry plant, when defense mechanisms may not yet be fully established.