UNLIKELY PLANT PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

Abstract

The record of plant pathogenic bacteria includes a number of species for which evidence of pathogenicity is weak or lacking. Some reports are based on the activity of opportunistic saprobes acting under highly favourable conditions. Others appear to be based on misidentification of strains or on saprobes mistakenly selected in the original isolations, or mislabelled strains in culture collections. Eleven taxa are proposed for removal from the list of names of plant pathogenic bacteria, 1980-2007 (Bull et al., 2010). Some minor amendments are also made.