ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL PATHOGENS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GROWTH RETARDATION OF PLANTS
ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL PATHOGENS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GROWTH RETARDATION OF PLANTS CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION Bacteria are microscopic, single-called organisms that have a cell wall. Their genetic materials, a circular stand of DNA, floats inside the cell and is not surrounded by a nuclear membrane. Therefore, bacteria are prokaryotic (i.e do not have a true nucleus) as do plants, animals and fungi. Bacteria have other small gene-carrying entities within them called plasmids. Some of the characteristics exhibited by bacteria, such as resistance to streptomycin, copper and other antibiotics are controlled by the plasmid genes. While most bacteria in the environment are beneficial, several are able to cause diseases such as leaf spots, stem rots, gall wilts, blights and cankers (Moorman, 2012). Plant pathogenic bacteria generally survive in infected plants, in debris from inflected plants and in a few cases in infested soil. Most require a w