Identification of Pseudomonas fuscovaginae with Biochemical, Serological, and Pathogenicity Tests. P. Rott, Plant Pathologist, Laboratoire de Phytopathologie, Institut de Recherches Agronomiques Tropicales et des Cultures Vivriéres, CIRAD, BP 5035, 34032 Montpellier CEDEX, France. J. Honegger, J.-L. Notteghem, and S. Ranomenjanahary. Plant Pathologist, Laboratoire de Phytopathologie, FOFIFA, BP 1690, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Plant Pathologist, Laboratoire de Phytopathologie, Institut de Recherches Agronomiques Tropicales et des Cultures Vivriéres, CIRAD, BP 5035, 34032 Montpellier CEDEX, France; and Plant Pathologist, Laboratoire de Phytopathologie, FOFIFA, BP 1690, Antananarivo, Madagascar. Plant Dis. 75:843-846. Accepted for publication 25 January 1991. Copyright 1991 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-75-0843.

Three types of diagnostic tests were used to identify 34 strains of Pseudomonas fuscovaginae out of 136 strains of fluorescent pseudomonads isolated from diseased rice (Oryza sativa) samples from fields in five countries. Some of the remaining 102 strains that did not conform to P. fuscovaginae were pathogenic in rice. More than two serotypes existed among strains of P. fuscovaginae from Madagascar. Only the combination of pathogenicity and a biochemical profile, i.e., identical reactions to seven reference strains in eight biochemical tests, permitted identification of all strains of the pathogen.