title: Erwinia piriflorinigrans sp. nov., a novel pathogen that causes necrosis of pear blossoms.
abstract: Eight Erwinia strains, isolated from necrotic pear blossoms in València, Spain, were compared with reference strains of Erwinia amylovora and Erwinia pyrifoliae, both of which are pathogenic to species of pear tree, and to other species of the family Enterobacteriaceae using a polyphasic approach. Phenotypic analyses clustered the novel isolates into one phenon, distinct from other species of the genus Erwinia, showing that the novel isolates constituted a homogeneous phenotypic group. Rep-PCR profiles, PCR products obtained with different pairs of primers and plasmid contents determined by restriction analysis showed differences between the novel strains and reference strains of E. amylovora and E. pyrifoliae. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA, gpd and recA gene sequences showed that the eight novel strains could not be assigned to any recognized species. On the basis of DNA-DNA hybridization studies, the novel isolates constituted a single group with relatedness values of 87-100  % to the designated type strain of the group, CFBP 5888(T). Depending on the method used, strain CFBP 5888(T) showed DNA-DNA relatedness values of between 22.7 and 50  % to strains of the closely related species E. amylovora and E. tasmaniensis. The DNA G+C contents of two of the novel strains, CFBP 5888(T) and CFBP 5883, were 51.1 and 50.5 mol%, respectively. On the basis of these and previous results, the novel isolates represent a novel species of the genus Erwinia, for which the name Erwinia piriflorinigrans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CFBP 5888(T) (=CECT 7348(T)).
authors.affiliation: Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA). Ctra. Moncada-Náquera, km. 4,5, 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: María M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Área de Protección Agroalimentaria, Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Ctra. Alicante-València, km. 276,5, 46460 Silla, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roselló
authors.affiliation: Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA). Ctra. Moncada-Náquera, km. 4,5, 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Llop
authors.affiliation: ENOLAB - Departament de Microbiologia i Ecologia, Universitat de València, Dr Moliner 50, E-46100 Burjassot, València, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrer
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: UMR de Pavé, INRA-INH-Université, BP 60057. 42, rue G. Morel, 49071 Beaucouzé CEDEX, France.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gardan
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001482:Base Composition; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004885:Erwinia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000032:analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D031989:Pyrus / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S