Abstract
BackgroundBursaphelenchus xylophilus is an emerging pathogenic nematode that is responsible for a devastating epidemic of pine wilt disease across Asia and Europe. In this study, we report the first genome-wide variation analysis of the nematode with an aim to obtain a full picture of its diversity.MethodsWe sequenced six key B. xylophilus strains using Illumina HiSeq sequencer. All the strains were isolated in Japan and have been widely used in previous studies. Detection of genomic variations were done by mapping the reads to the reference genome.ResultsOver 3 Mb of genetic variations, accounting for 4.1 % of the total genome, were detected as single nucleotide polymorphisms or small indels, suggesting multiple introductions of this invaded species from its native area into the country. The high level of genetic diversity of the pine wood nematode was related to its pathogenicity and ecological trait differences. Moreover, we identified a gene set affected by genomic variation, and functional annotation of those genes indicated that some of them had potential roles in pathogenesis.ConclusionsThis study provides an important resource for understanding the population structure, pathogenicity and evolutionary ecology of the nematode, and further analysis based on this study with geographically diverse B. xylophilus populations will greatly accelerate our understanding of the complex evolutionary/epidemic history of this emerging pathogen.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2085-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is an emerging pathogenic nematode that is responsible for a devastating epidemic of pine wilt disease across Asia and Europe
Inter-strain genomic variation in Bursaphelenchus xylophilus In order to investigate the genomic diversity of B. xylophilus, we re-sequenced six representative strains with different phenotypic or ecological traits (Table 1)
Our findings demonstrated that the level of diversity in the B. xylophilus genome is high and comparable with that in other hyper-diverse organisms [30] because the geographical range was restricted in this study
Summary
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is an emerging pathogenic nematode that is responsible for a devastating epidemic of pine wilt disease across Asia and Europe. Pine wilt disease (PWD) is one of the most serious global conifer diseases affecting native species of Pinus from the Far East forestlands to some parts of Europe [1]. The pine wood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the causal agent of PWD. PWN kills infected trees usually within a year of infection. This nematode is believed to be native to North America and causes little damage to the Pinus species in those regions. Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is thought to have been introduced into Japan approximately 100 years ago from North America [2]. PWD was found in Portugal in 1999 [8] and has spread to Spain [9]
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