Chic, trendy veggies like arugula and baby broccoli, and familiar stand-bys like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, are vulnerable to attack by a once-puzzling pathogen. Agricultural Research Service plant pathologist Carolee T. Bull and colleagues have, in laboratory, greenhouse, and field research, detected, identified, renamed, and classified the plant-killing microbe that’s now officially known as Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis. “Pv.” stands for “pathovar” and indicates that the microbe is a specific pathogenic form, or strain, of a species.
Their work has sorted out some of the taxonomic confusion surrounding classification of the large, complex group of harmful bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas, to which P. cannabina pv. alisalensis properly belongs.
In so doing, the team has helped growers, vegetable processors, fellow scientists, and anyone who enjoys eating good-for-you cruciferous veggies
