Characterization of a Xylella fastidiosa field strain on the genomics basis

• Author(s): Chen, Jianchi; Civerolo, Ed; Jarret, R.; Oliveira, M.; Sluys, Marie-Anne;
• Abstract: Five randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragments from a Florida strain of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) causing Pierces disease (PD) in grapevine were sequenced and used to search the GenBank database including the genome sequences of four X. f. strains causing PD (PD-Temecula), almond leaf scorch (ALSD-Dixon) and oleander leaf scorch (OLSD-Ann-1) from California, and citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC-9a5c) from Brazil. Four of the five RAPDs were most similar to PD-Temecula, indicating that X. f.-PD strains from Florida and California were highly homogeneous. CVC-9a5c was the most distant to the Florida PD strain. The discrepant RAPD, PDX3-1 (547 bp), shared no homologous regions in the genomes of PD-Temecula and CVC-9a5c, but was homologous to two regions in ALSD-Dixon and one in OLSD-Ann-1. PDX3-1 contained the C-terminal portion of an integrase gene found in Enterobacteriaceae phages. A 43-bp sequence at the 3 end of PDX3-1 was almost identical to part of the tRNA-lys gene, which could be the att site for DNA integration.
• Publication Date: Jun 2003
• Journal: Phytopathology