Effect of weather conditions on local spread and infection by pea bacterial blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi)

The effect of weather conditions on simultaneous local (plant to plant) spread and infection of peas (Pisum sativum) with bacterial blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi) was investigated by exposing susceptible bait plants for 24 h periods in infected field plots. Following exposure, bait plants were maintained in a glasshouse. Disease symptoms were recorded on 55 out of a total of 105 days on which plants were exposed. Nearly all of these infection events (53) were associated with the occurrence of rain. A series of Generalised Linear Models was fitted to the data to examine the relationships of the mean number of lesions (m) or the proportion of bait plants infected (p) to various weather variables and disease levels in the plots. Rainfall rate and wind run were the most important explanatory variables for the mean number of lesions followed by maximum temperature, rainfall duration, rainfall in the previous week and disease incidence in the surrounding crop. However, rainfall duration and disease incidence were the most important for the proportion of bait plants infected, followed by wind run. A four variable model relating the mean number of lesions to the rainfall rate, wind run, maximum temperature and either rainfall the previous week or disease incidence in the surrounding crop was considered to be the most useful for use in simulation studies.