Sphingomonas is a taxonomic genus of bacteria. Its type species is Sphingomonas paucimobilis; the genus name is validly published in the prokaryotic naming system. A bacterial strain, an individual species and the genus are different levels of identification.[ref]
A2011 experiment made that distinction consequential. Researchers grew Arabidopsis thaliana with or without candidate bacterial colonists, then challenged the plants with the leaf pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Many plant-derived Sphingomonas isolates reduced both disease symptoms and pathogen growth. Isolates obtained from air, dust or water did not necessarily protect, even at comparable bacterial densities on the plant.[ref]
Protection of Arabidopsis thaliana against leaf-pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae by Sphingomonas strains in a controlled model system by Gerd Innerebner and others. Abstract, controlled challenge and isolate-source comparison
The experiment distinguishes colonization from a protective function. Finding a Sphingomonas sequence or a high bacterial count does not by itself show disease suppression. A controlled comparison needs the particular bacterial strain, host and outcome. Differences in carbon-source use suggested competition as one possible mechanism, but did not exclude other explanations.[ref]
Protection of Arabidopsis thaliana against leaf-pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae by Sphingomonas strains in a controlled model system by Gerd Innerebner and others. Abstract, metabolic profiling and mechanistic qualification
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