Competitive Exclusion of Epiphytic Bacteria by Ice−Pseudomonas syringae Mutants

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The growth of ice nucleation-active and near-isogenic ice nucleation-deficient (Ice−) Pseudomonas syringae strains coexisting on leaf surfaces was examined to determine whether competition was sufficient to account for antagonism of phylloplane bacteria. The ice nucleation frequency spectra of 46 Ice−P. syringae mutants, obtained after mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate, differed both quantitatively and qualitatively, but the mutants could be grouped into four distinct phenotypic classes. The numbers of ice nucleation-active bacteria and ice nuclei active at −5°C were reduced on plants colonized with Ice−P. syringae mutant strains before challenge inoculations with an Ice+P. syringae wild-type strain. Frost injury to plants pretreated with Ice−P. syringae strains was also reduced significantly compared with that to control plants and was correlated with the population size of the Ice+P. syringae strain and with the numbers of ice nuclei active at −5°C. An Ice−P. syringae strain colonized leaves, flowers, and young fruit of pears in field experiments and significantly reduced the colonization of these tissues by Ice+P. syringae strains and Erwinia amylovora as compared with untreated trees.

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