Xanthomonas prunicola: a new bacterium isolated from nectarine trees in Spain
In Spain, a new bacterium has recently been isolated from nectarine trees (Prunus persica var. nectarina) cultivated in Murcia. Three bacterial isolates could be obtained and characterized. These isolates showed yellow and mucoid colonies, similar to those of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni, but gave negative results when tested (serological tests, real-time PCR) for this pathogen. Further studies using both phenotypic and genomic methods showed that these isolates belonged to a new and distinct species for which the name Xanthomonas prunicola sp. nov was proposed. In addition, the three isolates were confirmed to be pathogenic also on peach (Prunus persica), causing necrotic lesions on leaves.
Sources
López MM, Lopez-Soriano P, Garita-Cambronero J, Beltrán C, Taghouti G, Portier P, Cubero J, Fischer-Le Saux M, Marco-Noales E (2018) Xanthomonas prunicola sp. nov., a novel pathogen that affects nectarine (Prunus persica var. nectarina) trees. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 68(6), 1857-1866 (abst.) (via PestLens).