Evolutionary history of the plant pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas axonopodis.

ABSTRACT: Deciphering mechanisms shaping bacterial diversity should help to build tools to predict the emergence of infectious diseases. Xanthomonads are plant pathogenic bacteria found worldwide. Xanthomonas axonopodis is a genetically heterogeneous species clustering, into six groups, strains that are collectively pathogenic on a large number of plants. However, each strain displays a narrow host range. We address the question of the nature of the evolutionary processes--geographical and ecological speciation--that shaped this diversity. We assembled a large collection of X. axonopodis strains that were isolated over a long period, over continents, and from various hosts. Based on the sequence analysis of seven housekeeping genes, we found that recombination occurred as frequently as point mutatio

SUBMITTER: Mhedbi-Hajri N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3591321 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature