Ralstonia solanacearum (biovar 2, race 3) is a soil and water-borne pathogen that causes serious diseases in several solanaceous hosts. It can also infect geranium plants, posing an important threat to their culture when latently infected cuttings are imported from countries where the pathogen is endemic. R. solanacearum can be present in very low numbers in asymptomatic geranium cuttings, and/...

1,3-Dimethylamylamine (1,3-DMAA) is an aliphatic amine with stimulant properties that are reportedly found naturally only in geranium plants (Pelargonium graveolens). The presence of 1,3-DMAA in geranium plants was first reported in a paper published in 1996, but some have questioned the identification of 1,3-DMAA in that study. Since then, a number of additional studies have been published, la...

Xanthomonas hortorum pv. pelargonii is the causal agent of bacterial blight of geranium. A specific and rapid real-time PCR assay for detecting the bacterium in plant was developed in this study. We compared sensitivity of conventional and real-time PCR for detection of the pathogen in inoculated plants. For application to disease management programs, PCR amplification must be able to detect la...