Horsechestnut Bleeding Canker and the Development of a New Phage Biocontrol

摘要

The 1970s saw the first incidences of the European horse-chestnut (Aesculns hippocastanum) trees in the United Kingdom threated by an oomycete (fungus-like) disease that caused bleeding of canker. But in 2002, we began to see a large increase in the incidence of bleeding canker symptoms with the disease rapidly spreading across the country; and we were not alone. Cases were documented in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. The last survey by the Forestry Commission assessing the numbers oftrees suffering with this disease in the UK found that roughly half of our horsechestnut trees were affected, with the highest numbers of roughly 75 percent being seen in southeastern England. This disease is clearly a widespread problem, and it is caused by a new perpetrator, a bacterium.