Conventional and real-time PCRs for detection of Erwinia piriflorinigrans allow its distinction from the fire blight pathogen, Erwinia amylovora.

Erwinia piriflorinigrans is a new pathogenic species of the bacterial genus Erwinia that has been described recently in Spain. Accurate detection and identification of E. piriflorinigrans are challenging because its symptoms on pear blossoms are similar to those caused by Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight.

Association of 'Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum' with a vegetative disorder of celery in Spain and development of a real-time PCR method for its detection.

A new symptomatology was observed in celery (Apium graveolens) in Villena, Spain in 2008. Symptomatology included an abnormal amount of shoots per plant and curled stems. These vegetative disorders were associated with 'Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum' and not with phytoplasmas.

Erwinia piriflorinigrans sp. nov., a novel pathogen that causes necrosis of pear blossoms.

Eight Erwinia strains, isolated from necrotic pear blossoms in València, Spain, were compared with reference strains of Erwinia amylovora and Erwinia pyrifoliae, both of which are pathogenic to species of pear tree, and to other species of the family Enterobacteriaceae using a polyphasic approach. Phenotypic analyses clustered the novel isolates into one phenon, distinct from other species of the genus Erwinia, showing that the novel isolates constituted a homogeneous phenotypic group. Rep-PCR profiles, PCR products obtained with different pairs of primers and plasmid contents determined by restriction analysis showed differences between the novel strains and reference strains of E.