Wetwood Disease

• Several types of trees, including maples, elms, poplars, pines, firs, hemlocks, oaks and mulberries, can get a tree disease called "wetwood" from enterobacter cloacae, according to the University of Massachusetts Extension. As the name suggests, wetwood disease causes trees to produce extra wetness, and a slimy mixture of bacteria, sap, yeasts and water oozes out of infected trees.
  
  

Wetwood Problems

• Wetwood does not normally severely harm trees, according to the University of Massachusetts Extension. However, some trees can become severely infected, get lots of root, trunk and branch wounds, and start to die.
  
  

Wetwood Treatment

• Although tree owners cannot completely prevent or cure wetwood disease, they can reduce its prevalence in a tree by cutting off infected branches and sterilizing the cuts with alcohol or bleach.
  
  

Enterobacter Cloacae in Macadamias

• Enterobacter cloacae also infects macadamia trees and causes gray and unappetizing macadamia nuts, as explained by the Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center. This bacteria can harm the macadamia nut industry. For macadamias to become infected, the bacteria must travel through an opening in the shells. Therefore, macadamia farmers can prevent the disease by eliminating pests that damage macadamia shells.