VIEW ARTICLE

Survival of Xanthomonas campestris in Soil. Norman W. Schaad, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, College of Agriculture Experiment Station, Georgia Station, Experiment 30212; William C. White, Agriculture Research Assistant III, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, College of Agriculture Experiment Station, Georgia Station, Experiment 30212. 1518-1520. Accepted for publication 28 June 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-1518.

The survival of the black rot organism, Xanthomonas campestris, was determined in soil using an agar plate technique. When separated from host tissue, the pathogen was not recovered in field soil after 14 days in late summer or after 42 days in winter; half-lives of the pathogen during winter, late spring, early summer, and late summer were 2.6, 1.3, 1.2, and 0.4 days, respectively. When protected by cabbage stem tissue, the pathogen was recovered in large numbers from plant debris in soil for up to 244 days. More than one hundred thousand viable X. campestris cells per g tissue were recovered from the 244-day sample and the half-life of the pathogen was 13.7-days. Using a 13.7-day half-life, the theoretical survival time of X. campestris in host tissue in soil would be 615 days. The relationship between the survival of the pathogen in soil and recommended crop rotations for controlling black rot are discussed.