Isolation of Cotton Seed and Lint Rotting Serratia Sp. from Bolls Infested with the Verde Plant Bug, Creontiades signatus

The Verde plant bug, Creontiades signatus, has recently become a significant pest of cotton grown along the South Texas Coastal Bend area.  Feeding by this insect pest on young bolls often yet not always results in the development of an inner boll rot.  We analyzed field grown bolls that were previously caged with field collected insects and isolated microbes from diseased bolls.  Purified bacteria were puncture inoculated into greenhouse grown bolls.  Bolls inoculated with putatively identified Serratia species became diseased with symptoms comparable to the field infected bolls.  A full description of the microbial isolation, identification and inoculation processes shall be discussed.