Use of Monoclonal Antibodies and Pathogenicity Tests to Characterize Strains ofXanthomonas campestrispv.dieffenbachiaefrom Aroids

Six monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were used to group 323 strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. dieffenbachiae, isolated from 12 genera of aroids and collected from five Hawaiian islands, Florida, California, and Australia over 11 yr. Nine percent of these strains did not react with any of the six MAbs. Of the remaining 91%, 12 major serogroups were identified. Ninety-five percent of the Anthurium strains formed seven groups, four of which contained exclusively Anthurium strains. Thirty-six of 43 strains from Syngonium reacted with the MAbs, including most of those strains previously considered to be «X. vitians» and recently described as a separate pathovar (pv. syngonii) (...)