title: Phenotypic diversity of Erwinia amylovora in Bulgaria.
abstract: Fifty-one strains of Erwinia amylovora isolated from nine host plants in Bulgaria were characterized phenotypically and identified by the API 20E and BIOLOG system. The identification was confirmed by PCR amplification of a specific region of the plasmid pEA29 and the genome ams region. The phenotypic diversity of the strains was studied on the basis of their API 20E and BIOLOG metabolic profiles, as well as of their SDS-PAGE protein profile. Metabolic diversity among the strains was established, but no connection with the origin of the strains was revealed. The Bulgarian strains showed API 20E metabolic profiles not found in previous studies of E. amylovora. The strains formed a homogenous group on the basis of their protein profiles. All the strains were sensitive to the antibiotics streptomycin, tetracycline and oxytetracycline. This study was an initial step towards an investigation of the diversity and evolution in the Bulgarian population of E. amylovora, and it was the first characterization of E. amylovora strains isolated from different host plants in the period 1995-2005 in Bulgaria.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Industrial Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, The Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Iliana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Atanasova
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stefanova
authors.forename: Petia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kabadjova
authors.forename: Sava
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tishkov
authors.forename: Zhechko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dimitrov
authors.forename: Nevena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bogatzevska
authors.forename: Penka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moncheva
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002031:Bulgaria; D003470:Culture Media; D044084:Erwinia amylovora / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003470:Culture Media