- classification : Bacteria, Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Pseudomonadales, Pseudomonadaceae
- English name: tomato pith necrosis


Pseudomonas corrugata is a Gram - bacteria very ubiquitous considered to be opportunistic on tomatoes. First described in England in 1978, it was subsequently reported in the 1980s in several European countries (Germany, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, France ), New Zealand, the United States This bacteriosis is now rife in many production areas spread over all continents, both under cover and in the open. In France , P. corrugata is present mainly in shelters.

Its damage to tomato can be anecdotal or very substantial depending on the production situation.

Quite recent work has shown that under the name " P. corrugata " there are in fact two very similar and long-standing bacteria: P. corrugata , but also another called " P. mediterranea Catala et al. ». The geographical distribution of the latter, like that of P. corrugata now , is not yet well known. P. mediterranea has nevertheless been isolated in France from supposed strains of P. corrugata . It has also been in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

Furthermore, it should be noted that strains of this bacterial species have been successfully tested as a biological protection agent on various plants, revealing a fairly broad spectrum of efficacy with regard to bacteria ( Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. Sepedonicus ), but also fungi ( Pythium spp., Botrytis cinerea, Verticillium dahliae, Rhizoctonia solani ).

Several other bacteria have been associated with symptoms black marrow in addition to P. corrugata : Pseudomonas cichorii (Swingle) Stapp, P. viridiflava (Burkholder) Dowson, P. fluorescens (Flügge) Migula biotype I, Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum , P. carotovorum subsp. atrosepticum and Erwinia chrysanthemi . Several of them can be rife in the same country. For example, at least 5 Pseudomonas ( P. cichorii, P. viridiflava, P. fluorescens, P. corrugata and P. mediterranea ) were incriminated in the early 2000s as responsible for black pith in Turkey.