A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticulture. Their causes include a wide range of organisms as fungi, bacteria, mycoplasmas and viruses. The majority of canker-causing organisms are bound to a unique host species or genus, but a few will attack other plants. Weather and animals can spread canker, thereby endangering areas that have only slight amount of canker.
A leaf spot is a limited, discoloured, diseased area of a leaf that is caused by fungal, bacterial or viral plant diseases, or by injuries from nematodes, insects, environmental factors, toxicity or herbicides. These discoloured spots or lesions often have a centre of necrosis. Symptoms can overlap across causal agents, however differing signs and symptoms of certain pathogens can lead to the diagnosis of the type of leaf spot disease. Prolonged wet and humid conditions promote leaf spot disease and most pathogens are spread by wind, splashing rain or irrigation that carry the disease to other leaves.
Phytotoxins are substances that are poisonous or toxic to the growth of plants. Phytotoxic substances may result from human activity, as with herbicides, or they may be produced by plants, by microorganisms, or by naturally occurring chemical reactions.
Pseudomonas syringae is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium with polar flagella. As a plant pathogen, it can infect a wide range of species, and exists as over 50 different pathovars, all of which are available to researchers from international culture collections such as the NCPPB, ICMP, and others.
Pseudomonas avellanae is a Gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium. It is the causal agent of bacterial canker of hazelnut. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, P. avellanae has been placed in the P. syringae group. This species was once included as a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following DNA-DNA hybridization, it was instated as a separate species. Following ribotypical analysis Pseudomonas syringae pv. theae was incorporated into this species.
Pseudomonas cichorii is a Gram-negative soil bacterium that is pathogenic to plants. It has a wide host range, and can have an important economical impact on lettuce, celery and chrysanthemum crops. P. cichorii was first isolated on endives, from which it derives its name. It produces 6-aminopenicillanic acid. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, P. cichorii has been placed in the P. syringae group.
Pseudomonas meliae is a fluorescent, Gram-negative, soil bacterium that causes bacterial gall of the chinaberry, from which it derives its name. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, P. meliae has been placed in the Pseudomonas syringae group. Genotypic characteristics of the causal agent of chinaberry gall were determined by Aeini and Taghavi.
Pseudomonas savastanoi is a gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was instated as a new species. It is named after Savastano, a worker who proved between 1887 and 1898 that olive knot are caused by bacteria.
Pseudomonas viridiflava is a fluorescent, Gram-negative, soil bacterium that is pathogenic to plants. It was originally isolated from the dwarf or runner bean, in Switzerland. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, P. viridiflava has been placed in the P. syringae group. Following ribotypical analysis misidentified strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. ribicola and Pseudomonas syringae pv. primulae were incorporated into this species. This pathogen causes bacterial blight of Kiwifruit.
Pseudomonas cannabina is a gray, Gram-negative, fluorescent, motile, flagellated, aerobic bacterium that causes leaf and stem rot of hemp, from which it derives its name. It was formerly classified as a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following ribotypical analysis, it was reinstated as a species. The type strain is CFBP 2341.
Pseudomonas coronafaciens is a Gram-negative bacterium that is pathogenic to several plant species. Following ribotypical analysis several pathovars of P. syringae were incorporated into this species.
Xanthomonas is a genus of bacteria, many of which cause plant diseases. There are at least 27 plant associated Xanthomonas spp., that all together infect at least 400 plant species. Different species typically have specific host and/or tissue range and colonization strategies.
Pantoea agglomerans is a Gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the family Erwiniaceae.
"Pseudomonas tomato" is a Gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was recognized as a separate species and several other former P. syringae pathovars were incorporated into it. Since no official name has yet been given, it is referred to by the epithet 'Pseudomonas tomato' .
"Pseudomonas helianthi" is a Gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae, but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was recognized as a separate species and P. syringae pv. tagetis was incorporated into it, as well. Since no official name has yet been given, it is referred to by the epithet 'Pseudomonas helianthi' .
Tabtoxin, also known as wildfire toxin, is a simple monobactam phytotoxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae. It is the precursor to the antibiotic tabtoxinine β-lactam (TBL). It is produced by:
Rhizobacter is a bacterial genus from the class Betaproteobacteria order Burkholderiales. It is a plant pathogenic bacterium and, like a few other phytopathogenic bacteria, produces tumors in infected plants. It appears to have an extremely wide host range, producing tumors (galls) on the roots, stems and tubers of at least 46 species of plants from 24 families, which includes many economically important species such as tomato and cabbage. The type species, Rhizobacter dauci was first identified causing carrot bacterial gall in Japan and was described in 1988.
Bleeding canker of horse chestnut is a common canker of horse chestnut trees that is known to be caused by infection with several different pathogens.
Bacterial blight of soybean is a widespread disease of soybeans caused by Pseudomonas syringaepv. glycinea.
Since the colonization of land by ancestral plant lineages 450 million years ago, plants and their associated microbes have been interacting with each other, forming an assemblage of species that is often referred to as a holobiont. Selective pressure acting on holobiont components has likely shaped plant-associated microbial communities and selected for host-adapted microorganisms that impact plant fitness. However, the high microbial densities detected on plant tissues, together with the fast generation time of microbes and their more ancient origin compared to their host, suggest that microbe-microbe interactions are also important selective forces sculpting complex microbial assemblages in the phyllosphere, rhizosphere, and plant endosphere compartments.
