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Classification, Nomenclature, and Plant Pathogenic Bacteria - A Clarification

First author: Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland, New Zealand; second author: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1636 E Alisal Street, Salinas, CA 93905; third author: Center for Animal and Plant Health, 93 Mount Edward Road, Charlottetown, PE C1A 5T1, Canada; fourth author: Dipartimento di Biologia Applicata alla Difesa delle Piante, Universita, via Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy; fifth author: Unité de Pathologie Végétale, INRA, F-49071 Beaucouzé Cedex, France; sixth author: CABI Bioscience, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey TW20 9TY, UK; seventh author: Central Science Laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Sand Hutton, York, YO4 1LN, UK; and eighth author: Plant Pathology Laboratory, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Shizuoka 422, Japan

In a recent Letter to the Editor of Phytopathology, proposals were made for endorsement and for rejection of selected names of plant pathogenic Pseudomonas spp. and Xanthomonas spp. We believe that support for, and rejection of, several names was based on misconceptions concerning the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names and entails misinterpretations of several Rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria. This letter aims to clarify those misconceptions and misinterpretations.