Whole-genome comparative analysis of three phytopathogenic Xylella fastidiosa strains.
Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) causes wilt disease in plants and is responsible for major economic and crop losses globally. Owing to the public importance of this phytopathogen we embarked on a comparative analysis of the complete genome of Xf pv citrus and the partial genomes of two recently sequenced strains of this species: Xf pv almond and Xf pv oleander, which cause leaf scorch in almond and oleander plants, respectively. We report a reanalysis of the previously sequenced Xf 9a5c (CVC, citrus) strain and the two "gapped" Xf genomes revealing ORFs encoding critical functions in pathogenicity and conjugative transfer. Second, a detailed whole-genome functional comparison was based on the three sequenced Xf strains, identifying the unique genes present in each strain, in addition to those shared between strains. Third, an "in silico" cellular reconstruction of these organisms was made, based on a comparison of their core functional subsystems that led to a characterization of their conjugative transfer machinery, identification of potential differences in their adhesion mechanisms, and highlighting of the absence of a classical quorum-sensing mechanism. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of comparative analysis strategies in the interpretation of genomes that are closely related.
Integrated Genomics, Inc., 2201 West Campbell Park Drive, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. anamitra@integratedgenomics.com
Anamitra
A
Bhattacharyya
Stephanie
S
Stilwagen
Natalia
N
Ivanova
Mark
M
D'Souza
Axel
A
Bernal
Athanasios
A
Lykidis
Vinayak
V
Kapatral
Iain
I
Anderson
Niels
N
Larsen
Tamara
T
Los
Gary
G
Reznik
Eugene
E
Selkov
Theresa L
TL
Walunas
Helene
H
Feil
William S
WS
Feil
Alexander
A
Purcell
Jean-Louis
JL
Lassez
Trevor L
TL
Hawkins
Robert
R
Haselkorn
Ross
R
Overbeek
Paul F
PF
Predki
Nikos C
NC
Kyrpides
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002957:Citrus / Q000382:microbiology; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020563:Gammaproteobacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D030007:Nerium / Q000382:microbiology; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D027861:Prunus / Q000382:microbiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins