Partial Characterization of Bacteriophages of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato

摘要

Since the first major outbreak of bacterial speck in 1978, this disease has been a major problem for tomato growers in certain regions of North America. This disease, characterized by small brown to black lesions, is caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Jones et. al., 1991). While bacterial speck is not a threat to the plant itself, it reduces the marketable value of the fruit by decreasing its aesthetic appeal to the consumer. The taxo-nomic status of P. tomato is uncertain at present. It is difficult to distinguish morphologically and physiologically from other pathovars of the species, particularly Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae. P. syringae pv. syringae has also been characterized from necrotic lesions on infected tomato fruit (Jones et. al., 1981). P. tomato is also of interest because it has been used as a model in plant pathogen studies with Arabidopsis thaliana, to gain a better understanding of the molecular basis of bacterial disease resistance (Whalen and Staskawicz, 1990). A comprehensive fine structure genetic analysis of P. tomato would provide useful information for these areas of interest.