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

Pectobacterium isolates SS95 , 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 , from its closest relatives, i.e. P. parmentieri RNS 08-42-1A and P. wasabiae CFBP3304 , as well as from all the other known Pectobacteriumspecies. In silico DNA-DNA hybridization (