High-throughput genomic sequencing of cassava bacterial blight strains identifies conserved effectors to target for durable resistance.

Cassava bacterial blight (CBB), incited by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam), is the most important bacterial disease of cassava, a staple food source for millions of people in developing countries. Here we present a widely applicable strategy for elucidating the virulence components of a pathogen population. We report Illumina-based draft genomes for 65 Xam strains and deduce the phylogenetic relatedness of Xam across the areas where cassava is grown. Using an extensive database of effector proteins from animal and plant pathogens, we identify the effector repertoire for each sequenced strain and use a comparative sequence analysis to deduce the least polymorphic of the conserved effectors. These highly conserved effectors have been maintained over 11 countries, three continents, and 70 y of evolution and as such represent ideal targets for developing resistance strategies.

Phylogenetic Characterization and Genome Sequence Analysis of Burkholderia glumae Strains Isolated in Thailand as the Causal Agent of Rice Bacterial Panicle Blight.

Burkholderia glumae is one of the most critical rice-pathogenic bacteria, and it causes bacterial panicle blight (BPB) in rice plants. In 2017, BPB symptoms were observed from rice fields in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. Sixty-one isolates obtained from the symptomatic panicles of rice were initially identified as B. glumae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using species-specific primers. Among them, six selected strains isolated from the susceptible japonica rice cultivar DOA2 were characterized in terms of morpho-physiology, pathology, phylogenetics, and genomics. Our genome sequence analysis of the six selected strains revealed the presence of multiple prophages, which may reflect the high level of diversity in this bacterial species through dynamic horizontal gene transfer processes, including phage infection. This notion was supported by the results of phylogenetic and phylogenomic analyses, which showed the formation of several subgroups not related to the years of isolation or the geographical origins. This study reports the isolation of B. glumae as the causal pathogen of BPB disease in japonica rice in Thailand and provides genomic resources to better understand the biology and diversity of this plant pathogenic bacterium. Further studies with a vast collection of B. glumae strains from various rice-growing regions around the world are needed to elucidate the evolution, variability, and lifestyle of the pathogen.

Double antibody pairs sandwich-ELISA (DAPS-ELISA) detects Acidovorax citrulli serotypes with broad coverage.

Acidovorax citrulli, a seedborne bacterium and quarantine pest, causes the devastating bacterial fruit blotch disease in cucurbit plants. Immunological assays such as ELISA are widely used in routine field inspections for this bacterium. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of the currently available monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) can detect all common A. citrulli strains. We therefore aimed to produce a panel of MAbs and to develop an ELISA-based method capable of detecting all A. citrulli strains. We used a high-throughput bead array technique to screen and characterize A. citrulli-specific MAbs produced from hybridoma clones. The hybridoma library was simultaneously screened against five A. citrulli strains (PSA, KK9, SQA, SQB and P) and the closely related bacterium, Delftia acidovorans. Three MAbs exhibiting different binding patterns to A. citrulli were used to develop an ELISA-based method called "double antibody pairs sandwich ELISA" (DAPS-ELISA). DAPS-ELISA employing mixtures of MAbs was able to specifically detect all 16 A. citrulli strains tested without cross-reactivity with other bacteria. By contrast, our previously developed MAb capture-sandwich ELISA (MC-sELISA) and a commercial test kit detected only 15 and 14 of 16 strains, respectively. The sensitivity of the DAPS-ELISA ranged from 5×105 to 1×106 CFU/mL, while those of the MC-sELISA and the commercial test kit ranged from 5×104 to 1×107 CFU/mL and 5×104 to 5×105 CFU/mL, respectively. DAPS-ELISA thus represents an alternative method enabling rapid, accurate, and inexpensive detection of all A. citrulli strains. The method can be applied to seed testing prior to planting as well as to routine field inspections.