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Ecology and Epidemiology

Growth and Lesion Development of Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli on Leaves of Red Kidney Bean Plants Exposed to Hydrogen Fluoride. J. A. Laurence, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; K. L. Reynolds, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Phytopathology 74:578-580. Accepted for publication 7 February 1984. Copyright 1984 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-74-578.

Low concentrations of atmospheric hydrogen fluoride (HF) (1 or 3 μgF·m^-3) applied continuously for 5 days after inoculation of red kidney bean leaves with Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli resulted in longer latent periods and smaller initial lesion size. When HF was supplied continuously for 5 days prior to inoculation or in intermittent exposures of 12 hr·day^-1 for up to 4 days after inoculation, no measurable differences in lesion characteristics were found. Growth of the bacterium in the resident phase on leaf surfaces was slowed by continuous, but not by intermittent, exposures. Sodium fluoride, when incorporated in medium at a concentration of 0.01 M, inhibited growth of the pathogen.