Pseudomonas
Pseudomonas is a genus of Gram-negative aerobic gammaproteobacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae containing 191 validly described species. The members of the genus demonstrate a great deal of metabolic diversity, and consequently are able to colonise a wide range of niches. Their ease of culture
in vitro and availability of an increasing number of
Pseudomonas strain genome sequences has made the genus an excellent focus for scientific research; the best studied species include
P. aeruginosa in its role as an opportunistic human pathogen, the plant pathogen
P. syringae, the soil bacterium
P. putida, and the plant growth promoting
P. fluorescens. Because of their widespread occurrence in water and in plant seeds such as dicots, the pseudomonads were observed early in the history of microbiology. The generic name
Pseudomonas created for these organisms was defined in rather vague terms by Walter Migula in 1894...