Pear is one of the most important fruit trees of Pome fruits all over the world and of course in Albania, nowadays farmers are in a difficult situation for too many reasons (climatic changes, pests, diseases etc.). But there is a disease known as Fire Blight, which is able to destroy orchards in one single season. Erwinia amylovora is a bacteria that causes that disease, (Bacteria: Enterobacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae).
Fire Blight is so destructive because of the nature of distribution, aggressiveness and having no treatment. The economic impact is very high, which is the main reason why Fire blight has the attention of everyone who cultivates apple or pear fruits.
The project goal is divided in two main directions, 1-Plant resistance, and 2-Bacterial strains analysis. To look after the resistance of the plant, strains of different pear cultivars are brought from Albania and tested at JKI by making artificial inoculation with different bacterial strains (Erwinia amylovora). In the meantime DNA of bacteria were sequenced for proving if there is any mutation which affects the aggressiveness of bacteria and later on the infection of the plants