Two peer-reviewed articles that have been recently made available in Plant Pathology demonstrate that X. fastidiosa diversity in Europe, both in nature as well as imported plant material, continues to expand. Five sequence types (i.e. genetic groups) were identified in coffee shipments from Costa Rica and Honduras. In France, 4 different sequence types belonging to three different subspecies (and recombinants) have been identified in nature. Taken together with other already available evidence, these results support the hypothesis that Europe has been, and continues to be, subject to X. fastidiosa introductions. The diversity of X. fastidiosa in the field in Europe now also raises questions about the risks associated with dispersal/introductions of genotypes within Europe as well as the emergence of new diseases.
The papers in Plant Pathology (early view):
Assessment of the genetic diversity of Xylella fastidiosa in imported ornamental Coffea arabica plants.
Accepted manuscript online: 20 FEB 2017, M. Bergsma-Vlami, J.L.J van de Bilt, N.N.A. Tjou-Tam-Sin, C.M. Helderman, P.P.M.A. Gorkink-Smits, N.M. Landman, J.G.W. van Nieuwburg, E.J. van Veen and M. Westenberg DOI: 10.1111/ppa.12696 ABSTRACT
Several subspecies and sequence types are associated with the emergence of Xylella fastidiosa in natural settings in France
Accepted manuscript online: 20 FEB 2017, N Denance, B Legendre, M Briand, V Olivier, C de Boisseson, F Poliakoff and M-A Jacques DOI: 10.1111/ppa.12695 ABSTRACT