140 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXI, No. a 
TAXONOMY 
As has been previously pointed out, many workers have found bacteria 
associated with tomato diseases, particularly blossom-end rot. The 
bacteria isolated by Earle (5), by Stuart ( 18 ), and by Miss Smith ( 16 ) 
from blossom-end rot are not named nor are they adequately described. 
They show no similarity with the form causing bacterial spot. 
The bacteriosis of tomato described in 1910 by Pavarino (ir) is of 
considerable interest. While the fruit lesions are very evidently 
blossom-end rot, stem and foliage lesions are also present. He isolated 
from both fruit and leaves a yellow organism with which successful 
wound inoculations were made on fruit, stems, and leaves. He named 
this organism Bacterium briosii. In morphology and cultural characters 
this closely resembles the organism causing bacterial spot except that 
it has 1 to 4 flagella, the agar colonies have a lobed margin, and its 
optimum temperature was lower. As has been previously stated, it is 
necessary to admit that Pavarino may have been working with a com¬ 
bination of blossom-end rot and bacterial spot, but the description is 
not sufficiently clear-cut to justify the assumption that Bad . briosii 
is identical with the organism causing bacterial spot. Pavarino and 
Turconi ( 12) recently have described a Bacillus capsid as the cause of a 
pepper-wilt disease in Italy. This organism differs from the tomato 
organism in that its colonies are whitish gray and it produces acid and 
coagulates milk. 
The organism isolated by Groenwege (6) in 1912 from tomato blossom- 
end rot and named by him, Phylobader lycopersici, rather closely 
resembles the organism under consideration in cultural characters. 
However, the flagellation is not described, and his account of mutations 
in his cultures suggests the presence of more than one species. In 
addition, infection was secured only upon the mature or ripening fruit. 
There are not, therefore, sufficient grounds to assume that his P. lyco¬ 
persici is the same as the organism causing bacterial spot. 
Perotti and Cristofolletti (ij) in 1914 report from Italy a Pseudomonas 
polycromigena associated with Cladosporium herbarum as a secondary 
invader of tomato fruit. In both pathogenicity and cultural char¬ 
acteristics this organism is quite unlike the one causing bacterial spot. 
Nelson, working with Coons (5), isolated from true bacterial spot a 
yellow organism with which fruit inoculation was successful. Recently 
Link and Ramsay have isolated a yellow organism from bacterial spot 
on Florida tomatoes, cultures of which closely resemble those of 
the causal organism. Sherbakoff (15) isolated a yellow organism from 
bacterial spot of pepper and proved its pathogenicity. Link and 
Ramsay have also isolated a yellow organism from pepper-scab, and 
the similarity of their cultures to those which they isolated from tomatoes 
led them to suspect that the pepper and tomato diseases were related. 
