Pectobacterium brasiliense is a bacterial pathogen primarily infecting potato and other vegetables and ornamentals. The earliest reports of the bacterium causing disease were from Brazil in 2004 (El-Tassa and Duarte, 2004; Duarte et al., 2004). This pathogen was reported for the first time in Europe (Belgium) in 2012 (van der Wolf et al., 2017). Since then, the pathogen has been reported in many regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America. The bacterium has adapted

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... to a wide range of temperatures and host species, thus it is considered a culprit for significant losses in China, South Africa, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland and UK (Meng et al., 2017; van der Wolf et al., 2017). Symptoms caused by P. brasiliense are indistinguishable from other soft rot Pectobacterium and Dickeya, therefore it is impossible to identify this species on the basis of field and laboratory symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of curative measures and varietal resistance (in cultivated potatoes) against this group of bacteria, so farmers rely on seed certification, exclusion and sanitation to mitigate its worst effects.