A BLAST analysis of the 1.5-kb 16S rRNA gene sequence showed high nucleotide identity (99%) to the 16S rRNA gene of E. mallotivora DSM 4565 (accession number AJ233414) and E. papayae (accession number AY131237). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the E. mallotivora (BT-MARDI) from Malaysia (accession number HQ456230) belongs to the genus Erwinia and is united in a monophyletic group with E. mallotivora DSM 4565 and E. papayae. It showed that E. mallotivora and E. papayae are closely related species [5]. The group was supported with a high number of bootstraps in a neighbor-joining (NJ) tree (Figure 3). E. mallotivora (BT-MARDI) formed a robust cluster with the strain E. mallotivora (AJ233414).