= Pathovar
A <pathovar> is an infrasubspecific grouping of <bacterial strains> distinguished by disease responses in one or more hosts. The criterion concerns pathogenic characteristics and <bacterial host range>, rather than simply the collection from which a strain came. The 2022 revision of the prokaryotic naming code lists pathovar in its advice on infrasubspecific subdivisions; Rule14a places designations below <subspecies> outside the code's principal Rules and Recommendations.<International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Prokaryotic Code (2022 Revision) by Aharon Oren and others>[Rule14a; Appendix10B, table row Pathovar/Pathotype; Appendix10C]{ref}
The name <Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000> shows the levels of information. `Pseudomonas syringae` is the <species> designation, `pv. tomato` supplies the pathovar designation and `DC3000` specifies the <bacterial strain>. The published DC3000 genome study describes disease on both tomato and <Arabidopsis thaliana>.<The complete genome sequence of the Arabidopsis and tomato pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 by C. Robin Buell and others>[Abstract, named strain and susceptible hosts]{ref} The word tomato in the name therefore does not mean that only tomato can be affected.
A <bacterial host range> observation is bounded by the hosts and conditions tested. If two strains share a species name but produce different responses across a host panel, the panel can reveal a pathogenic distinction. It does not by itself establish that the strains are genetically identical within each group, nor determine responses in every untested host. A pathovar designation summarizes a biological pattern while the individual strain record preserves which material was actually measured.
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