Survey of bacterial pathogens on leaves and seeds of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle)

Abstract

Bacterial pathogens of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) were investigated. 50 samples each of leaves and seeds (healthy and diseased) were randomly collected and used for the analysis. Mean bacterial counts obtained were: healthy and diseased leaves; 8.26 x 103 and 5.9 l x l0³ cfu/ml respectively; healthy seeds 7.96 x l0³ cfu/ml and diseased seeds 1.1 4x 10⁴ cfu/ml. The bacterial populations of the healthy and diseased leaves and seeds showed no significant difference at P > 0.05 (F – cal = 4.69; F – tab = 4.76). Nine bacterial genera isolated include Acinetobacter (7.69%), Aerococcus and Alcaligenes (3.84%), Bacillus (19.23%), Corynebacterium (34.61%), Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas (3.84%), Staphylococcus (7.69%) and Streptomyces (15.38%). Corynebacterium had the highest percentage occurrence and was isolated from both healthy and diseased samples. Some of the bacterial species such Corynebacterium, Bacillus, Pseudomonas are known pathogens of plants and were implicated as pathogens of red mangrove.

Key word: Bacterial pathogens, red mangrove, diseased leaves, healthy leaves.