Phytopathogenic bacterial survival on artificial substrates

TL;DR

This study shows how certain plant-damaging bacteria can survive drying out on plastic and glass surfaces, which is important for preventing their spread in agriculture and labs.

Contribution

The study identifies specific phytopathogenic bacteria capable of surviving desiccation on artificial substrates and compares their survival rates.

Findings

Pseudomonas marginalis, Xanthomonas campestris, and Rathayibacter species can survive desiccation on plastic and glass.

Higher initial bacterial concentration increases survival likelihood.

X. campestris was more frequently recovered from plastic than from glass.

Abstract

The ability of phytopathogenic bacteria to survive desiccation on inanimate substrates has important implications for managing potential contamination and resulting bacterial spread during both real-world horticultural operations and laboratory experimentation. Here we demonstrate that
Pseudomonas marginalis, Xanthomonas campestris, Rathayibacter agropyri,
and
R. iranicus
are all capable of surviving desiccation on both polystyrene plastic and glass surfaces and that the likelihood of survival increases with increasing initial bacterial concentration.
X. campestris
was recovered at higher frequencies from plastic than from glass, while the other species were recovered at roughly equal frequencies from each surface.

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