title: Erwinia papayae sp. nov., a pathogen of papaya (Carica papaya).
abstract: Bacterial canker of papaya (Carica papaya) emerged during the 1980s in different islands of the Caribbean. Nineteen strains of Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria isolated from papaya were compared to 38 reference and type strains of phytopathogenic Enterobacteriaceae and related bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the papaya strains belonged to the genus Erwinia. The DNA G+C content of strain CFBP 5189T, 52.5 mol%, is in the range of the genus Erwinia. The 19 papaya strains were all pathogenic to papaya and were differentiated clearly from type or reference strains of phytopathogenic enterobacteria and related bacteria by phenotypic tests. The papaya strains constituted a discrete DNA hybridization group, indicating that they belonged to a unique genomic species. Thus, strains pathogenic to papaya belong to a novel species for which the name Erwinia papayae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain CFBP 5189T (=NCPPB 4294T).
authors.affiliation: UMR de Pathologie Végétale INRA-INH-UNIVERSITE, BP 57, 42 rue G. Morel, 49071 Beaucouzé, France.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gardan
authors.affiliation: UMR 6543 CNRS and Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Centre de biochimie, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Christen
authors.affiliation: CEA/Cadarache, DSV-DEVM, LEMIR, UMR 163 CNRS-CEA-Univ. Méditerranée, Saint Paul-lez-Durance, France.
authors.forename: Wafa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Achouak
authors.affiliation: INRA, Station de Pathologie Végétale, Domaine St Maurice, BP 94, 84143, Montfavet, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prior
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D017691:Caribbean Region; D029441:Carica / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004885:Erwinia / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005602:France; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S