Differentiation of bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas pathogenic to coffee by serological techniques

ABSTRACT: Some bacterial diseases have been described causing problems in coffee, whose causal agents are Pseudomonas cichorii, P. syringae pv. garcae, P. s. pv. tabaci and Burkholderia andropogonis, all of them also occurring in Brazil. Attempts to differentiate these bacteria by double diffusion agar (dda) technique with antisera produced against whole cells of P. s. pv. garcae showed cross-reactions, especially among P. s. pv. garcae and P. s. pv. tabaci. Thus, antisera were produced against P. s. pv. garcae (pathotype strain IBSBF-248 - Phytobacteria Culture Collection of Instituto Biológico - IBSBF), using rabbit immunizations with antigens of the protein complex of membranes. These antisera were tested against different kind of antigens (autoclaved cells, cells treated with formaldehyde, capsule polysaccharides, glycoproteins, bacterial membrane proteins and bacterial suspension in 0.85% NaCl) extracted from P. cichorii, P. s. pv. garcae and P. s. pv. tabaci. The results showed that depending on the kind of antigen and the medium used in the double diffusion test (with or without MgCl2 and/or trypan blue), the antiserum reacted only with P. s. pv. garcae. Thus, these antigens may be used as an auxiliary tool in the rapid diagnosis of bacterial halo blight of coffee in the double diffusion test.