Proposal of Xanthomonas translucens pv. pistaciae pv. nov., pathogenic to pistachio (Pistacia vera)

Strains of Xanthomonas translucens have caused dieback in the Australian pistachio industry for the last 15 years. Such pathogenicity to a dicotyledonous woody host contrasts with that of other pathovars of X. translucens, which are characterized by their pathogenicity to monocotyledonous plant families. Further investigations, using DNA-DNA hybridization, gyrB gene sequencing and integron screening, were conducted to confirm the taxonomic status of the X. translucens pathogenic to pistachio. DNA-DNA hybridization provided a clear classification, at the species level, of the pistachio pathogen as a X. translucens. In the gyrB-based phylogeny, strains of the pistachio pathogen clustered among the X. translucens pathovars as two distinct lineages. Integron screening revealed that the cassette arrays of strains of the pistachio pathogen were different from those of other Xanthomonas species, and again distinguished two groups. Together with previously reported pathogenicity data, these results confirm that the pistachio pathogen is a new pathovar of X. translucens and allow hypotheses about its origin. The proposed name is Xanthomonas translucens pv. pistaciae pv. nov.