Stone fruits cover 10% of the total cultivated lands in Lebanon and are distributed across the country. These crops are infected with several bacterial pathogens that cause critical problems and economic losses due to the absence of efficient control methods. This study was aimed at assessing the presence of these pathogens in Lebanon and a survey was therefore conducted in fourteen different regions where 303 samples were collected. Pathogen identification and characterization were performed by carrying out morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular tests. The results showed that 38% of the collected samples were infected and that, considering the host species and the regions, the most widespread bacterium was Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, followed by P.s. pv. morsprunorum race 1 showing host and region specificity.
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Furthermore, two isolates of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and one of P.s. pv. morsprunorum race 2 were detected, while 3 isolates suspected to be Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni were not confirmed by molecular tests.