A Rapid Method for Presumptive Identification of Xanthomonas campestris pv. dieffenbachiae and Other Xanthomonads. David Norman, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822. Anne Alvarez, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822. Plant Dis. 73:654-658. Accepted for publication 27 February 1989. Copyright 1989 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-73-0654.

Two selective media were developed for the isolation and preliminary identification of Xanthomonas campestris pv. dieffenbachiae. The principal carbon sources were cellobiose and starch in one medium and esculin and trehalose in the other. The media were identical with respect to antibiotics and growth factors. In tests with 151 identified strains of bacteria and 46 bacterial epiphytes isolated from aroids, both media permitted the growth of X. c. pv. dieffenbachiae and other pathovars of X. campestris but inhibited growth of most other bacteria. The identity of the xanthomonads was rapidly confirmed by use of Xanthomonas-specific monoclonal antibodies in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.