Unique features of a Japanese 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' strain revealed by whole genome sequencing.

ABSTRACT: Citrus greening (huanglongbing) is the most destructive disease of citrus worldwide. It is spread by citrus psyllids and is associated with phloem-limited bacteria of three species of ?-Proteobacteria, namely, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus', 'Ca. L. americanus', and 'Ca. L. africanus'. Recent findings suggested that some Japanese strains lack the bacteriophage-type DNA polymerase region (DNA pol), in contrast to the Floridian psy62 strain. The whole genome sequence of the pol-negative 'Ca. L. asiaticus' Japanese isolate Ishi-1 was determined by metagenomic analysis of DNA extracted from 'Ca. L. asiaticus'-infected psyllids and leaf midribs. The 1.19-Mb genome has an average 36.32% GC content. Annotation revealed 13 operons encoding rRNA and 44 tRNA genes, but no typical bacterial pathogenesis-related genes were located within the genome, similar to the Floridian psy62 and Chinese gxpsy. In contrast to other 'Ca. L. asiaticus' strains, the genome of the Japanese Ishi-1 strain lacks a prophage-related region.

SUBMITTER: Katoh H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4152171 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature