In vitro evaluation of apricot cultivars response to Pseudomonas syringae pathovars: Image processing as an alternative method

Turkey, with an apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) production amount of 833,398 tons per year, ranks first in fresh apricot production and dried apricot export in the world. Malatya, Iğdır, and Elazığ with amounts of apricot production constitute the main apricot production centers in Turkey. Many table and dried apricot cultivars have been grown in Turkey. Economically important apricot cultivars such as cv.Şalak (or Aprikoz), cv.Tebereze, cv.Ordubat, cv.Ağcanabat, and cv.Ağerik are widely grown in the Aras Valley, including Iğdır and Kağızman. In this study, DNA barcoding of local cultivars based on the ITS region was performed and their distribution was shown in the Aras Valley. The reactions of these apricot cultivars to the causal agents of bacterial canker, which negatively affect the yield and quality of apricot cultivation, were also determined. Alternative methods such as image-processing technology and CHAID analysis have also been successfully used for cultivar reaction tests. It was determined that "cv.Şalak" is the most common apricot cultivar in the Aras Valley. In addition, the Ağcanabat cultivar was sensitive to the causal agents of disease, and other local apricot cultivars were tolerant to it.