Use of Polyethylene Glycol and Glycerol as Carriers of Antibiotics for Reduction of Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli in Navy Bean Seeds. L. Z. Liang, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology and Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1312. J. M. Halloin, and A. W. Saettler (deceased). Department of Botany and Plant Pathology and Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1312. Plant Dis. 76:875-879. Accepted for publication 15 April 1992. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1992. DOI: 10.1094/PD-76-0875.

Bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris), either noninfested or internally infested with Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli, were immersed in solutions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) or glycerol as well as in solutions of these materials containing streptomycin, tetracycline, and chlorotetracycline. Immersion in either 25% PEG or 60% glycerol solutions did not diminish germination while seedling vigor was slightly reduced. PEG solutions were more effective than glycerol solutions for introduction of antibiotics into seeds. Concentrations of tetracycline and chlorotetracycline in PEG solutions that effectively reduced X. c. phaseoli were phytotoxic. PEG solutions with streptomycin reduced but did not eradicate internal populations of the bacterium from naturally contaminated seeds and caused few phytotoxic effects.