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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2003, p. 1290-1294, Vol. 69, No. 2
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.2.1290-1294.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enhancement of Population Size of a Biological Control Agent and Efficacy in Control of Bacterial Speck of Tomato through Salicylate and Ammonium Sulfate Amendments

Department of Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849

Received 10 June 2002/ Accepted 13 November 2002

Sodium salicylate and ammonium sulfate were applied to leaf surfaces along with suspensions of the biological control agents Pseudomonas syringae Cit7(pNAH7), which catabolizes salicylate, and Cit7, which does not catabolize salicylate, to determine whether enhanced biological control of bacterial speck of tomato could be achieved. Foliar amendment with salicylate alone significantly enhanced the population size and the efficacy of Cit7(pNAH7), but not of Cit7, on tomato leaves. Application of ammonium sulfate alone did not result in enhanced population size or biological control efficacy of either Cit7(pNAH7) or Cit7; however, when foliar amendments with both sodium salicylate and ammonium sulfate were applied, a trend toward further increases in population size and biological control efficacy of Cit7(pNAH7) was observed. This study demonstrates the potential of using a selective carbon source to improve the efficacy of a bacterial biological control agent in the control of a bacterial plant disease and supports previous conclusions that the growth of P. syringae in the phyllosphere is primarily carbon limited and secondarily nitrogen limited.