Phytopathogenic bacterial survival on artificial substrates

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 <i>Pseudomonas marginalis, Xanthomonas campestris, Rathayibacter agropyri,</i> and <i>R. iranicus</i> 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. <i>X. campestris</i> was recovered at higher frequencies from plastic than from glass, while the other species were recovered at roughly equal frequencies from each surface.