Gala resistant to fire blight developed

Fruit growers fear fire blight. Time and again this bacteria causes great damage to apple growth, reports German website Proplanta.de. The last large epidemic was in 2007 and caused damage estimated at 50 million Swiss francs (around 41 million Euro). A quarter of a million trees had to be destroyed to try and stop the spread of the Erwinia amylovora bacteria, and caused growers to use sprays containing antibiotic streptomycin - a controversial method of saving fruit trees and crops.

Researchers into plant pathogens, Cesar Gesslar from the 'Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich' (ETH) and the Julius Kühne Institute in Germany, in the latest edition of 'Plant Bio-technical Journal' presented a genetically modified variant of the favourite Gala variety, resistant against fire blight.

It is the first time that researchers have been successful in finding a wild apple resistant to fire blight and to isolate and confirm the gene responsible. The gene carried the genetic code for a protein which recognised the surface protein of the attacking bacteria and caused the plant to produce an immune response to it. This one gene is sufficient to provide the plant with protection and with this genetic code researchers were then able to successfully develop a Gala apple resistant to the bacteria.