The relationship between disease symptoms and parasite growth in bacterial blight of cotton

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Abstract
Summary: Lesion development and growth of Xanthomonas malvacearum (E. F. Smith) Dowson were followed in seedlings of different cultivars of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) after inoculation of hypocotyls. There was a close relationship between numbers of the parasite and length of hypocotyl lesion. Disease development could be accurately determined by measurement of lesion length from 2 to 3 days after inoculation until growth of the parasite ceased. Growth patterns of the parasite in vivo took the form of a distinct period of exponential (phase 1) growth followed by relatively little, if any, further increase in numbers (phase 2 growth). The duration of phase 1 growth was related to host resistance and environmental factors.