Rahnella spp. are commonly isolated from onion (Allium cepa) bulbs and are weakly pathogenic.

AIMS: Bacterial decays of onion bulbs have serious economic consequences for growers, but the aetiologies of these diseases are often unclear. We aimed to determine the role of Rahnella, which we commonly isolated from bulbs in the United States and Norway, in onion disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Isolated bacteria were identified by sequencing of housekeeping genes and/or fatty acid methyl ester analysis. A subset of Rahnella spp. strains was also assessed by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA); most onion strains belonged to two clades that appear closely related to R. aquatilis. All tested strains from both countries caused mild symptoms in onion bulbs but not leaves. Polymerase chain reaction primers were designed and tested against strains from known species of Rahnella. Amplicons were produced from strains of R. aquatilis, R. victoriana, R. variigena, R. inusitata and R. bruchi, and from one of the two strains of R. woolbedingensis. CONCLUSIONS: Based on binational testing, strains of Rahnella are commonly associated with onions, and they are capable of causing mild symptoms in bulbs. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: While Rahnella strains are commonly found within field-grown onions and they are able to cause mild symptoms, the economic impact of Rahnella-associated symptoms remains unclear.

Eop1 from a Rubus strain of Erwinia amylovora functions as a host-range limiting factor.

Strains of Erwinia amylovora, the bacterium causing the disease fire blight of rosaceous plants, are separated into two groups based on host range: Spiraeoideae and Rubus strains. Spiraeoideae strains have wide host ranges, infecting plants in many rosaceous genera, including apple and pear. In the field, Rubus strains infect the genus Rubus exclusively, which includes raspberry and blackberry. Based on comparisons of limited sequence data from a Rubus and a Spiraeoideae strain, the gene eop1 was identified as unusually divergent, and it was selected as a possible host specificity factor. To test this, eop1 genes from a Rubus strain and a Spiraeoideae strain were cloned and mutated. Expression of the Rubus-strain eop1 reduced the virulence of E. amylovora in immature pear fruit and in apple shoots. Sequencing the orfA-eop1 regions of several strains of E. amylovora confirmed that forms of eop1 are conserved among strains with similar host ranges. This work provides evidence that eop1 from a Rubus-specific strain can function as a determinant of host specificity in E. amylovora.