Physiological and Molecular Genetic Studies

Pectobacterium carotovourm is a rod-shaped bacterium that was named after the crop of carrots from which it was first isolated. The bacterium infects a variety of vegetables and plants including carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and ornamental plants like iris. Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum is wide-spread plant pathogen capable of causing general plant tissue maceration called soft rot. The virulence of this pathogen depends on the production of plant cell wall degrading enzymes (including pectinases, cellulases and proteases) as primary virulence factors that break down the plant cell wall in the course of disease.