The relation between dosage, bacterial growth and time for disease response during infection of bean leaves by Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola

Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola 1L3 was infiltrated at a dosage of 0mD5 to 512 times the median effective dose (ED₅₀) into the leaves of two bean cultivars, Borlotto di Vigevano (ED₅₀ 15 bacteria) and Saluggia (ED₅₀ 34 bacteria). The distributions of time for production of disease symptoms after inoculation with up to 64 ED₅₀ were in agreement with those predicted by the simple birth-death model for microbial infection. Individual times of response to higher doses were longer and more widely distributed than expected from the model. Growth curves of bacteria in leaves inoculated with 16, 64 or 512 ED₅₀ could be viewed conventionally as a sequence of an exponential phase, a phase of decelerating growth and a stationary phase. Viable counts, however, were also compatible with parabolic population trends during the period preceding, accompanying and immediately following the appearance of disease symptoms. Bacterial growth parameters estimated from response times and infectivity titration data were consistent with those calculated from viable counts in vivo.