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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307997
Title: Complete genome sequence of a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain isolated from a known cotton insect boll vector

Author
item Medrano, Enrique
item Forray, Marissa
item Bell, Alois - Al

Submitted to: Genome Announcements
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2014
Publication Date: 8/21/2014
Citation: Medrano, E.G., Forray, M.M., Bell, A.A. 2014. Complete genome sequence of a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain isolated from a known cotton insect boll vector. Genome Announcements. 2(4):e00850-14.

Interpretive Summary: Previously we recovered Klebsiella pneumoniae from the gut of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula. This insect is recognized as a significant pest of cotton bolls that is capable of transmitting boll rot microbes. The resulting microbial infection of the bolls causes disease and extensive or total fiber loss. In a past report we showed that manually simulating the feeding (piercing/sucking) mechanism of the stink bug results in transmission of the pathogen into the cotton boll, which results in rot. When lab-reared N. viridula were provided a diet contaminated with K. pneumoniae, the bugs did not transmit the pathogens to the cotton bolls even though K. pneumoniae had established itself in the gut of N. viridula. Regardless, this does not exclude other vectors (such as the brown and green stink bugs) that are potentially capable of transmitting K. pneumoniae to cotton bolls which would result in disease; this will require further study. Using modern molecular biology techniques, we sequenced the entire genome of this cotton pathogen for the purpose of identifying genes involved in disease. Over 4,000 genes were recognized and will be studied for possible involvement in the infection process. The sequence data are available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank database.

Technical Abstract: Klebsiella pneumoniae (associated with bacterial pneumonia) was previously isolated from Nezara viridula, a significant vector of cotton boll-rot pathogens. We provide the first annotated genome sequence of the cotton opportunistic strain K. pneumoniae 5-1. This data provides guidance to study the bases of cotton pathogenesis by bacteria associated with vectors.