Large-scale intersubspecific recombination in the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa is associated with the host shift to mulberry.

ABSTRACT: Homologous recombination plays an important role in the structuring of genetic variation of many bacteria; however, its importance in adaptive evolution is not well established. We investigated the association of intersubspecific homologous recombination (IHR) with the shift to a novel host (mulberry) by the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. Mulberry leaf scorch was identified about 25 years ago in native red mulberry in the eastern United States and has spread to introduced white mulberry in California. Comparing a sequence of 8 genes (4,706 bp) from 21 mulberry-type isolates to published data (352 isolates representing all subspecies), we confirmed previous indications that the mulberry isolates define a group distinct from the 4 subspecies, and we propose naming the taxon X

SUBMITTER: Nunney L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4018926 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature