Characterization of Pseudomonas spp. and related bacteria from rice seeds in the subtropics and the tropics

To explore the bacterial diversity for sustain-able management of the major rice diseases,asurvey of bacterial diversity of rice seed wasconducted in Luzon Island of the Philippines(the tropics)and in Zhejiang Province of China(the subtropics),during 1993-1998.One hun-dred sixteen(0.5kg/sample)and 129(1kg/sample)seed samples were collected from the subtropics and the tropics,respectively.Morethan 3000 bacterial isolates were picked and examined under the UV light for their fluores-cence.After colony morphological,pathogeni-cal,and some bacteriological tests,816 non-pathogenic bacteria isolates were selected forfurther identification using a numeric taxono-