Effect of the Easiflo Cottonseed Processing Method on Recovery of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum

Laboratory studies were conducted to compare the effects of acid delinting and Easiflo treated cottonseed on the survival of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. malvacearum ( Xam ), causal agent of bacterial blight of cotton. Symptomatic bolls of the susceptible cultivars Paymaster 2326 RR and/or All-Tex Xpress RR were sampled from plots artificially inoculated with Xam. In 2007, seed of Deltapine 164B2RF, were obtained from a field naturally infested with Xam . Seeds from each cultivar were either mechanically delinted and treated with the Easiflo coating or subjected to acid delinting and placed on potato carrot agar. Resulting yellow, mucoid colonies characteristic of Xam were tested for pathogenicity on susceptible cotton seedlings. In 2006, seed from artificially inoculated bolls, receiving the Easiflo treatment had a greater frequency of Xam (2.7%), than seed receiving the acid treatment (0%). No differences in Xam isolation frequency were observed between mechanically delinted seed treated with Easiflo and acid delinted seed, when bolls were naturally infested with Xam . Overall, neither method completely eradicated Xam from the seed, which may serve as initial inoculum in the development of bacterial blight in the field.