Fanhong Meng
The bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum causes bacterial wilt on more than 200 plant species, including important crops such as potato, tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco and banana. Many factors contribute to the virulence of this pathogen. This review discusses the major virulence factors, including extracellular polysaccharide I, the type III secretion system and effectors, swimming motility and twitching motility, cell-wall-degrading enzymes and type II secretion system, and their contribution to the virulence and pathogenicity of Ralstonia solanacearum.