Detection and Characterization of subsp. in Rabbiteye Blueberry in South Carolina.

causes bacterial leaf scorch in southern highbush ( interspecific hybrids) and is also associated with a distinct disease phenotype in rabbiteye blueberry () cultivars in the southeastern United States. Both subsp. and subsp. have been reported to cause problems in southern highbush blueberry, but so far only subsp. has been reported in rabbiteye cultivars in Louisiana. In this study, we report detection of in rabbiteye blueberry plants in association with symptoms of foliar reddening and shoot dieback. High throughput sequencing of an -positive plant sample and comparative analyses identified the strain in one of these plants as being subsp. . We briefly discuss the implications of these findings, which may spur research into blueberry as a potential inoculum source that could enable spread to other susceptible fruit crops in South Carolina.