Assessment of genetic diversity among strains of Pseudomonas syringae by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of rRNA operons with special emphasis on P. syringae pv. tomato.

Phylogenetic relationships among 77 bacterial strains belonging to Pseudomonas syringae and Pseudomonas viridiflava species were assessed by analysis of the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of three DNA fragments corresponding to rrs and rrl genes and the internal transcribed spacer, ITS1. No difference among all strains in rrs and rrl genes was observed with 14 restriction enzymes, which confirms the close relationships existing between these two species. The nucleotidic sequence of the internal transcripted spacer (ITS1) between rrs and rrl for the P. syringae pv. syringae strain CFBP1392 was determined. Restriction maps of the PCR-amplified ITS1 region were prepared and compared for all 77 strains. Seventeen RFLP patterns, forming three main clusters, were distinguished. One contained all strains of P. syringae pv. tomato and of other pathovars which had been previously described as closely related by either pathogenicity studies or biochemical analyses. This cluster was equally far from P. viridiflava and from other P. syringae pathovars. These other pathovars of P. syringae formed a less coherent taxon.