Liberibacter crescens: the first cultured member of the genus Liberibacter
During recent studies, a new Liberibacter species has been recovered from a mountain papaya (Carica stipulata x C. pubescens) plant in Puerto Rico showing symptoms of papaya bunchy top. For the first time, it has been possible to culture and characterize this bacterium which has been called Liberibacter crescens. At the same time, the genus Liberibacter has been created (with L. crescens as the only member). All other species which have not yet been cultured and characterized remain in the category ‘Candidatus’ (e.g. ‘Ca. L. americanus’, ‘Ca. L. africanus’, ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’, ‘Ca. L. europaeus’, ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’).
Sources
Fagen JR, Leonard MT, Coyle JF, McCullough CM, Davis-Richardson AG, Davis MJ, Triplett EW (2014) Liberibacter crescens gen. nov., sp. nov., the first cultured member of the genus Liberibacter. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 64(7), 2461-2466.