One More Decade of Agrobacterium Taxonomy

This chapter presents a historical overview of the development and changes in scientific approaches to classifying members of the Agrobacterium genus. We also describe the changes in the inference of evolutionary relationships among Agrobacterium biovars and Agrobacterium strains from using the 16S rRNA marker to recA genes and to the use of multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA). Further, the impacts of the genomic era enabling low cost and rapid whole genome sequencing on Agrobacterium phylogeny are reviewed with a focus on the use of new and sophisticated bioinformatics approaches to refine phylogenetic inferences. An updated genome-based phylogeny of ninety-seven Agrobacterium tumefaciens complex isolates representing ten known genomic species is presented, providing additional support to the monophyly of the Agrobacterium clade. Additional taxon sampling within Agrobacterium genomovar G3 indicates potential exceptions to interpretation of the concept of bacterial genomics species as ecological species because the genomovar G3 genomic cluster, which initially includes clinical strains, now also includes plant-associated and cave isolates.