Pectolytic and cellulolytic activity of enzymes secreted by erwinia dieffenbachia, causing stem soft rot on dieffenbachia plants

ABSTRACT

Fourteen isolates of Erwinia dieffenbachia were isolated from dieffenbachia stem rot, four of them were rated as highly, moderately and weakly virulent and were active in secreting pectin methylesterase, polygalacturonase and cellulase enzymes in vivo and in vitro. They varied in their enzyme production. The highly virulent isolate produced in the culture filtrates 3-5 times higher PME, PG and cellulase activities than the low virulent one. Dieffenbachia stems inoculated with any of the tested isolates showed higher activity of such enzymes than healthy stems. A correlation between the PME, PG and cellulase activities and the pathogenicity of the tested pathogen isolates was detected