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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #358828
Research Project: Characterization of Molecular Networks in Diseases Caused by Emerging and Persistent Bacterial Plant Pathogens

Location: Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research

Title: Complete genome sequence of Dickeya dianthicola ME23, a pathogen causing Blackleg and Soft Rot Diseases of potato

Author
item Swingle, Bryan
item PERNA, NICOLE - University Of Wisconsin
item GLASNER, JEREMY - University Of Wisconsin
item HAO, JAY - University Of Maine
item JOHNSON, STEVEN - University Of Maine
item CHARKOWSKI, AMY - Colorado State University
item PERRY, KEITH - Cornell University
item Stodghill, Paul

Submitted to: Microbiology Resource Announcements
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/18/2018
Publication Date: 2/14/2019
Citation: Swingle, B.M., Perna, N.T., Glasner, J.D., Hao, J., Johnson, S., Charkowski, A., Perry, K.L., Stodghill, P. 2019. Complete genome sequence of the potato blackleg pathogen Dickeya dianthicola ME23. Microbiology Resource Announcements. 8(7). https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01526-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01526-18

Interpretive Summary: In 2014 an especially virulent potato blackleg disease outbreak emerged in North America and continues to impact potato production to the present day. Here we report the annotated genome sequence for Dickeya dianthicola ME23, a strain hypothesized to be representative of the bacterial population responsible for this disease outbreak. The genome sequence of this bacterium is needed to conduct comparisons with other isolates of the disease-causing bacteria collected from other locations in the United States. These comparisons will be used to determine the level of diversity among the disease-causing bacteria. The genome information will be used for future design of new diagnostic tools and tracking the source(s) of the blackleg disease outbreak.

Technical Abstract: Blackleg is one of the most important bacterial diseases of potato. Historically, most blackleg disease in the United States was caused by Pectobacterium species, but in 2014 a new devastating form of blackleg caused by bacteria of the genus Dickeya emerged and has been confirmed in most potato production states and two provinces in Canada. Multiple Dickeya species are capable of causing this disease, but Dickeya dianthicola appears to be the only species presently causing significant losses in North America. D. dianthicola is a broad host range necrotrophic pathogen, with the characteristic ability to degrade plant cell walls using secreted enzymes. Here we report a closed and annotated genome sequence of D. dianthicola ME23, a strain hypothesized to be representative of the Dickeya population responsible for the blackleg outbreak throughout the Eastern United States. We used two high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies to produce a closed and polished assembly of the D. dianthicola ME23 genome sequence. The resulting genome assembly was 4,909,058 bp with 55.72% GC content and contains a total of 4317 protein coding sequences, 76 tRNA, 22 rRNA, and two tmRNA genes.