IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIA PATHOGENIC TO 
PLANTS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED FROM THE PHIL. 
IPPPINE ISLANDS 
By CoLin G. WELLES 
Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, University 
of the Philippines 
The study of phytobacteriology has not been pursued to any 
extent as yet in the Philippine Islands. The bacterial diseases 
that have been reported have been identified, with a few excep- 
tions, mainly through symptoms, the cultural and morphological 
studies having been omitted. 
The present paper is the first of a series in which all known 
bacterial organisms, pathogenic to plants found in the Philip- 
pine Islands, will be briefly described. In this paper Bacterium 
solanacearum E. F. Sm., Pseudomonas phaseoli E. F. Sm., Bacte- 
rium malvacearum B. F. Sm., and Bacillus nelliae sp. nov. are 
reported upon. 
REVIEW OF LITERATURE 
A bacterial wilt of solanaceous plants, especially of tobacco 
(Nicotiana tabacum Linn.) has been observed to be very destruc- 
tive locally. Reinking(5) examined tissues of wilted tobacco, 
eggplant, and tomato plants and found the vascular elements 
entirely clogged with bacteria which, in advanced stages, fre- 
quently invaded the parenchymatous tissue. From the above- 
mentioned observations the disease was reported as solanaceous 
wilt and was said to be caused by Bacillus solanacearum BE. F. 
Sm. The description of the symptoms is similar to that given 
by Smith(7) and by Garner, Wolf, and Moss. (3) 
Bean blight, common in the United States, caused by Pseudo- 
monas phaseoli E. F. Sm., was also reported by Reinking. (5) 
The disease was described as follows: 
This well-known disease is * * * destructive on Phaseolus vulgaris 
Linn. and on Phaseolus lunatus Linn. Leaves, stems, and pods are attacked. 
Characteristic, irregular brownish spots with water-soaked edges are pro- 
duced on the leaves. * * * The organism attacks pods, forming a 
characteristic watery spot, and also works down into the seed, thus infect- 
ing the latter, 
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