Ralstonia Solanacearum Species Complex and Bacterial Wilt Disease

The bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum is a widely accepted model organism for the study of pathogenicity in plants [1]. This soil-borne bacterium, which belongs to the betaproteobacteria, is responsible for bacterial wilt on more than 200 plant species from 50 botanical families, including important crops such as potato, tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco and banana. In fact, bacterial wilt is considered the single most destructive bacterial plant disease because of its extreme aggressiveness, wide geographic distribution, and unusually broad host range [2].