Abstract
Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight disease of apples and pears, is one of the most important plant bacterial pathogens with worldwide economic significance. Recent reports on the complete or draft genome sequences of four species in the genus Erwinia, including E. amylovora, E. pyrifoliae, E. tasmaniensis, and E. billingiae, have provided us near complete genetic information about this pathogen and its closely-related species. This review describes in silico subtractive hybridization-based comparative genomic analyses of eight genomes currently available, and highlights what we have learned from these comparative analyses, as well as genetic and functional genomic studies. Sequence analyses reinforce the assumption that E. amylovora is a relatively homogeneous species and support the current classification scheme of E. amylovora and its related species. The potential evolutionary origin of these Erwinia species is also proposed. The current understanding of the pathogen, its virulence mechanism and host specificity from genome sequencing data is summarized. Future research directions are also suggested.
Highlights
Fire blight, caused by the gram-negative bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is the first plant bacterial disease confirmed back in the 1880s and is a devastating necrotic disease affecting apples, pears and other rosaceous plants [1]
Why natural isolates of E. amylovora display differential virulence? What are the molecular mechanisms underlying the host specificity of Erwinia strains, as some have wide host range, whereas others with limited host range? What are the genetic differences between them? In this review, we summarize the current understanding of pathogen from genome sequencing efforts in four
When compared E. amylovora strains CFBP1430 or ATCC 49946 to BAA2158, a strain with limited host Rubus, more than 3400 of 3500 conserved proteins (98%) have H-values of 1 (Figure 2(a,b), Table 3), indicating the genomes of E. amylovora strains are almost identical, no matter their host range or geographic origin. These results further indicate that not much has been changed for genomes of E. amylovora except several recombination events [11] since the disease spread from
Summary
Fire blight, caused by the gram-negative bacterium Erwinia amylovora, is the first plant bacterial disease confirmed back in the 1880s and is a devastating necrotic disease affecting apples, pears and other rosaceous plants [1]. The disease is widespread across North America, Europe and the Middle East including Iran, threatening the native origin of apple germplasm resources in Central Asia. More than two centuries have passed and significant progress has been made in revealing the mysteries of the pathogen and the disease, many questions remain unanswered. Most notable ones are questions regarding the pathogen, its ability to cause disease, and interaction with host plants and insect vectors. Highlight what we have learned from comparative genomic analyses, as well as genetic and functional genomic studies. Future perspectives on research for this important pathogen are suggested
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