No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Acidified cupric acetate soaks were tested for eradication of Xanthomonas campestris from naturally infected crucifer seeds. The pathogen was eradicated from seeds by soaking in 0.5% cupric acetate dissolved in 0.005 N acetic acid for 20 min at 35, 40, 45, and 500C but not 250C. Moreover, normal bacterial flora of crucifer seeds and the seed-borne Phoma lingam and Alternaria spp. were reduced by 95, 92, and 81%, respectively, after the cupric acetate treatment at 400C. The seed germination percentage was generally reduced, but the amount of reduction depended upon the treatment temperature and plant cultivar. At 500C, less than 50% of the seed of all 12 cultivars tested germinated, whereas at 40°C more than 50% of the seeds of most cultivars germinated. Treating seeds in cupric acetate at 400C should prove useful for eradicating X. campestris from seeds of breeding lines and stock seed used for hybrid seed production. Furthermore, a significant reduction in total bacterial flora and seed-borne fungi suggests the usefulness of the treatment for other microorganisms associated with other seeds or foodstuffs.

Seven self-incompatibility (S) alleles (S2, S13, S15, S18, S24, S39, and S51) were identified in various hybrids and breeding lines of broccoli [Brassica oleracea L. (Botrytis group)]. The international S. allele collection of Brassica oleracea at the National Vegetable Research Station was used to assure standardized identification.