''Informative, well-constructed, and readable...The contributors are leaders in their fields and what they have to say is worthwhile.'' --- SGM Quarterly, August 1998

This volume mainly reports on new and recent advancements on different aspects of Pseudomonas syringae, a plant pathogenic bacterial species that include a high number of pathogens of important crops, which is an interesting model organism in plant pathology. In addition some related fluorescent Pseudomonas spp., responsible of new and emerging diseases, as well as some pathogens previously included in the above genus and now classified in the genera Ralstonia, Acidovorax are also considered. The tremendous recent advancements on: the ecology and epidemiology and, in particular, the adaptation of P. syringae to stresses and adverse environmental conditions; the function and regulation of genes involved in the production of phytotoxins and on their mechanism of action in the interaction with the host cells; the structure, function and regulation of type three secretion system (TTSS) and the transport of the effectors proteins in the host cells; the possibility to control diseases through the induction of the systemic acquired resistance (SAR); the development of molecular techniques for the highly specific and sensible identification and detection of pathogens; the determination of the causal agents of new and emerging diseases as well the classification of the different pathovars of P. syringae; are reported in 76 chapters cured by leading scientist in the respective fields.