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Bacterial Leaf Spot of Watermelon Caused by Pseudomonas lachrymans. D. L. Hopkins, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Agricultural Research Center, Leesburg 32748; N. C. Schenck, Professor of Plant Pathology, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32601. Phytopathology 62:542-545. Accepted for publication 13 December 1971. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-62-542.

A bacterium isolated from a leaf spot of watermelon reproduced the symptoms of the disease when watermelon was inoculated in the greenhouse. In host range and physiological tests, the watermelon leaf spot bacterium most closely resembled Pseudomonas lachrymans and was most pathogenic on several plants in the Cucurbitaceae. Isolates of the watermelon pathogen and P. lachrymans were more pathogenic on cucumber than on watermelon. With its yearly recurrence, this disease has the potential to adversely affect watermelon production in Florida.