Characterization of the Causal Organism of Soft Rot of Tomatoes and Other Vegetables and Evaluation of Its Most Aggressive Isolates

To isolate the causal organism of soft rot of vegetables, diseased samples of potato, tomato, carrot, chilies, and bell pepper, were analyzed in the lab, using nutrient agar (NA) and/or the enrichment host (Bell pepper) technique. Successful isolations were purified by sub-culturing, identified as Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora through biochemical tests and their pathogenicity was con-firmed through inoculation on green tomato fruits. The isolates were tested for their aggressive-ness to find out the most aggressive one in terms of producing maximum soft rot on tomatoes. CRD (completely randomized design), with four replication was used and data were analyzed using LSD (least significant test) test. Among the five isolates evaluated for aggressiveness on tomato fruits