Pseudomonas ficuserectae sp. nov., the Causal Agent of Bacterial Leaf Spot of Ficus erecta Thunb.

Abstract

Pseudomonas ficuserectae, a new nonfluorescent, phytopathogenic pseudomonad species, is described. This bacterium produces dark brown, water-soaked spots on the leaves and stems of Ficus erecta Thunb., resulting either in defoliation or shoot blight on severely infected plants. The colonies on nutrient agar plates are white, circular, and 3 to 4 mm in diameter after 6 days. P. ficuserectae is similar to Pseudomonas amygdali in many properties. The differences between these two species include size of colonies on agar plates, hydrolysis of Tween 80, production of H2S, utilization of ribose, raffinose, mannitol, sorbitol, and malonate, and pathogenicity. The deoxyribonucleic acid base composition of the type strain of P. ficuserectae, strain L7, is 59 mol% guanine plus cytosine. The specific epithet of this new species reflects the pathogenicity of the bacterium on F. erecta Thunb.