RAPD Fingerprinting and Biochemical Analyses of Isolates of Pseudomonas corrugata from Tomato in Portugal

Abstract

Pseudomonas corrugata is well known as the causal agent of tomato pith necrosis in several countries. In Portugal P. corrugata, was firstly referred in 1985 (3) when it appeared erratically in greenhouses, in the main tomato production areas. Its importance as a phytopathogenic bacteria has increased (2) and the symptoms associated with this disease have also been related to several fluorescent pseudomonads, like P. cichorii, P. viridiflava, P. fluorescens, and P. putida (2) as well as in other countries (5). P. corrugata has also been indicated by several authors as a ubiquitous bacterium with a wide range of hosts plants, a common characteristic of many opportunistic fluorescent pseudomonads and has also been isolated from soil (4).