• Universitat de València
• Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)

• María Milagros López González
• María Belén Álvarez Ortega

Ralstonia solanacearum bacterium produces bacterial wilt in numerous vegetal species all over the world, many of which are basic crops of agronomic interest like potatoes and tomatoes, causing severe economic loss in the agricultural sector. That is why this bacterium is considered a quarantine organism in the European Union, and it obeys strict measures regulated by European directives. R. solanacearum control through chemical or physical treatments is not effective in general and, additionally, it is costly and it has a great impact on the environment. For this reason, new efficient and environmentally-friendly methods of biological control are especially necessary, such as using specific lytic bacteriophages to the pathogenic bacterium of these crops.

Researchers from the Universitat de València and the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias have isolated and patented new lytic bacteriophages specific to R. solanacearum, as well as the procedure associated to its use for the biological control of the wilt caused by this bacterium. Thus, it becomes possible to control the population of R. solanacearum, reducing in this way the wilt caused by the said bacterium in plants, by using an efficient and environmentally-friendly biological treatment.

The main application of this invention is in the agriculture field, specifically in the biological control of pathogenic organisms in vegetable crops of agronomic interest.

The main advantages provided by this technology are:

• Biological treatment for the control of the wilt caused by the bacterium R. solanacearum, an alternative to not very efficient chemical or physical treatments.
• High specificity of the bacteriophages used against R. solanacearum.
• Harmlessness of the bacteriophages for other living beings, including the beneficial plants microbiota to be protected.
• Easy applicability, through irrigation water.
• Lower environmental impact than chemical compounds, to which many pathogens have developed resistance.
• Less legal restrictions on its use, being able to apply it in cases where the control with chemical agents is forbidden.

• Patent granted