Assessment of fire blight introduction in the wild apple forests of Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT Fire blight disease of apples continues its worldwide spread, having reached Kazakhstan in 2010. It is a great threat to the wild apple forests of Malus sieversii. The introduction of fire blight is already showing a considerable impact on cultural apple growing and demands radical efforts for conservation of the wild apple forests. A number of studies have been conducted to examine the presence of fire blight distribution within apples in agricultural areas; however, there has been no large-scale monitoring of wild apple tree populations. Here we present the results of three years of monitoring wild apples in three protected areas of Kazakhstan, looking for the presence of fire blight (Erwinia amylovora). A visual inspection showed no signs of fire blight on the trees of M. sieversii in three consecutive years. These findings were confirmed by lateral flow immunochromatography, and conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction tests of the asymptomatic samples. The findings of this study will be used to produce recommendations for state authorities to prevent fire blight in wild apple forests of Kazakhstan.