Abstract
Seventeen pathogenic strains of Pseudomonas cichorii were isolated from leaf samples of coffee (Coffea arabica) collected from nurseries in eight municipalities of Puerto Rico. Two different inoculation methods were evaluated under in vitro conditions: inoculation of plant-attached old and young leaves grown under greenhouse conditions, and plant-detached young coffee leaves grown under field conditions. Pseudomonas cichorii was more virulent in older leaves, thus indicating that resistance mechanisms differ according to leaf age. Both inoculation methods were reliable in identifying resistant genotypes. Three commercial varieties of coffee (Borbón, Pacas and Caturra) were susceptible to bacterial leaf blight, whereas coffee species Coffea liberica var. Excelsa and Coffea canephora var. Robusta were resistant.