Isolation of Corynebacterium agropyri from 30- to 40-Year-Old Herbarium Specimens of Agropyron Species. T. D. Murray, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-6430. Plant Dis. 70: 378-380. Accepted for publication 24 October 1985. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-378.

Three strains of a yellow-pigmented, gram-positive, coryneform bacterium were isolated from herbarium specimens of Agropyron smithii, A. trachycaulum, and A. riparium that had been stored for 40, 35, and 30 yr, respectively. The plant samples were diagnosed as having bacterial head blight, caused by Corynebacterium agropyri, at the time they were collected, and the strains isolated closely resembled each other and the description of C. agropyri. The three strains, designated CA-1, CA-2, and CA-3, are believed to be the only extant cultures of C. agropyri. Survival of C. agropyri for 40 yr in dried plant material exceeds previous reports of C. flaccumfaciens surviving for 24 yr in bean seed.