Corynebacterium Insidiosum Research Articles

Isolation of bacteriophages for the detection of Corynebacterium insidiosum, agent of bacterial wilt of alfalfa.

Two phages for Corynebacterium insidiosum, agent of bacterial wilt of alfalfa, have been isolated. One was strain-specific, the other lysed 18 out of 20 strains of this organism. One strain was resistant to both phages. The polyvirulent phage was used successfully to detect the presence of C. insidiosum in roots of wilted alfalfa plants.

On bacterial wilt of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) caused by Corynebacterium insidiosum (McCull.) Jensen, in Italy

Bacterial wilt of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) caused by Corynebacterium insidiosum(McCull) Jensen was unknown in Italy until 1957. The authors established in that year in the province of Bologna this dangerous disease in 2–3 year-old stands of alfalfa which appeared uniformly and extensively thinned.

The blue pigment of Corynebacterium insidiosum.

The alfalfa wilt bacterium, Corynebacterium insidiosum, produces a water-insoluble blue substance which accumulates extracellularly. A number of factors (among them strain variation, temperature, pH, nutrition, crowding) have a considerable influence upon pigment production. Proper control of these factors led to a method for large-scale cultivation of C. insidiosum under conditions of good pigmentation.