VIEW ARTICLE

Etiology

Serological Relationships Among Membrane Proteins of Strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. Translucens. H. Azad, Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow 83843; N. W. Schaad, Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow 83843. Phytopathology 78:272-277. Accepted for publication 25 August 1987. Copyright 1988 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-78-272.

The serological relationships among 26 strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens from wheat, barley, rye, triticale, wild rice, and weeds were determined with antisera to membrane proteins. One or two major bands of precipitin were observed in Ouchterlony agar double-diffusion tests. The band nearest the antigen well (hereafter referred to as the M₁ band) was consistently present, whereas the other band (M₂) was not. Based on the M₁ band and cross-absorption tests, 25 of the 26 strains tested were grouped into two serovars and two subserovars. One strain was untypable. Of the 44 other bacteria tested, only X. c. pv. begoniae strain B-935 could not be distinguished from X. c. pv. translucens. In contrast to the high specificity observed in Ouchterlony tests, immunofluorescence (IF) tests resulted in low specificity. Several other xanthomonads, pseudomonads, and erwiniae could not be differentiated from X. c. pv. translucens based on IF tests. Although strains of X. c. pv. translucens were more virulent on their hosts of origin and showed variable pathogenicity reactions on different hosts, there was no correlation between host of origin and serovar.