Burning questions for fire blight research. II. Critical next steps in disease management and in host resistance breeding of apple and pear

Fire blight is a devastating disease of apple and pear worldwide. One reason fire blight is so difficult to manage is because of the lack of effective non-antibiotic management options as well as a limited host resistance gene pool. Traditional management approaches utilizing antibiotic and copper sprays face multiple problems including antibiotic resistance and human health concerns. Furthermore, most management materials are used to control the blossom blight stage of infection, and fewer materials are available to control shoot blight stage of infection. Breeding for host resistance against fire blight is limited by the heterozygosity of apple, as well as the lack of understanding of the host-pathogen interactions. In this review, we raised some of these “burning questions”, which suggest directions for future research in management and resistance breeding of fire blight.