Pectobacterium punjabense sp nov., isolated from blackleg symptoms of potato plants in Pakistan

Pectobacterium isolates SS95(T), SS54 and SS56 were collected from a potato field in the Chiniot district in the plains of the Punjab province, Pakistan. Sequencing of the gapA barcode revealed that these strains belong to a novel phylogenetic group separated from P. ectobacterium wasabiae and Pectobacterium parmentieri species. Furthermore, multilocus sequence analyses of 13 housekeeping genes (fusA, rpoD, acnA, purA, gyrB, recA, mdh, mtlD, groEL, secY, glyA, gapA and rplB) clearly distinguished the type strain, SS95(T), from its closest relatives, i.e.P. parmentieri RNS 08-42-1A(T) and P. wasabiae CFBP3304(T), as well as from all the other known Pectobacterium species. In silico DNA-DNA hybridization (<44.1 %) and average nucleotide identity (<90.75 %) values of strain SS95(T) compared with other Pectobacterium type strains supported the delineation of a new species. Genomic and phenotypic comparisons permitted the identification of additional traits that distinguished the Pakistani isolates from all other known Pectobacterium type strains. The name Pectobacterium punjabense sp. nov. is proposed for this taxon with the type strain SS95(T) (=CFBP 8604(T) =LMG 30622(T)).