Streptomyces scabies
| Streptomyces scabies | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Actinobacteria |
| Class: | Actinomycetes |
| Order: | Actinomycetales |
| Family: | Streptomycetaceae |
| Genus: | Streptomyces |
| Species: | S. scabies |
| Binomial name | |
|
Streptomyces scabies Lambert and Loria |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Oospora scabies Thaxter 1892 |
|
Oospora scabies Thaxter 1892
Actinomyces scabies Gussow 1892
Streptomyces scabiei Truper and De'clari 1997
Streptomyces scabies or Streptomyces scabiei is a streptomycete bacterium species found in soils around the world. Unlike most of the 500 or so Streptomyces species it is a plant pathogen causing corky lesions to form on tuber and root crops as well as decreasing the growth of seedlings. Along with other closely related species it causes the potato disease common scab, which is an economically important disease in many potato growing areas. It was first described in 1892, being classified as a fungus, before being renamed in 1914 and again in 1948. Several other species of Streptomyces cause similar diseases to S. scabies but other, more closely related species, do not.
The genome of S. scabies has been sequenced and is the largest Streptomyces genome known so far. The genome contains a pathogenicity island containing the genes required for S. scabies to infect plants, and which can be transferred between different species. S. scabies can produce several related toxins which are the most responsible for its pathogenicity, but several other systems have also been identified which contribute. It can infect young seedlings of all plants, as well as mature root and tuber crops, but is most often associated with causing common scab of potato.
The first known reference to common scab of potatoes, dates back to 1825, but it was not initially thought to have a biological cause. Isolates of an organism that causes common scab of potato were first isolated by Roland Thaxter in Connecticut in 1890 and in 1892 he described the primary strain as Oospora scabies. The original culture was not maintained. In 1914 H. T. Gussow renamed the species Actinomyces scabies, noting that Oospora was an incorrect classification since the disease was not caused by a fungus. The Streptomyces genus was first proposed by Waksman and Henrici in 1943, meaning 'pliant or bent fungus'. Most species of Streptomyces are saprotrophic feeding off dead matter with relatively few being causing disease. In 1948 Waksman and Henrici used the name Streptomyces scabies to describe the species and this name was revived in 1989 by Lambert and Loria, who bought together 12 different strains that formed one homogeneous group. In 1997 the name was changed to Streptomyces scabiei following a grammatical convention as set out in Rule 12c of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria. In 2007 Lambert and Loria recommended that the original name of Streptomyces scabies be kept due to its long-established use and it continues to be used today.
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