Structural and functional analyses of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri genome

Author(s)

Leandro Marcio Moreira

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Conjunto das Químicas (IQ e FCF) (CQ/DBDCQ)
• Defense date: 2006-10-11

Examining board members

Aline Maria da Silva; Regina Lúcia Baldini; Shaker Chuck Farah; João Paulo Fumio Whitaker Kitajima; Cláudia Barros Monteiro Vitorello

• Advisor: Aline Maria da Silva

Abstract

Xanthomonas axonopodis pv citri (XAC) is the bacterial pathogen that causes citrus canker disease in several species of Citrus plants. XAC genome consists of a main cromosome of ~5 Mpb and two plasmids that together encode 4313 CDS (coding sequences). Approximately 63% of the CDS have assigned biological functions. In this work, we present a detailed genomic comparison between the genomes of XAC and of three other phytopathogens, X. campestris campestris, Xylella fastidiosa 9a5c and X. fastidiosa Temecula. Based on this analysis, we identified species and genus-specific genes that might be relevant for adaptation to their niches and hosts. We mapped putative insertion/deletion regions in the XAC genome possibly related to gene gains and losses during the divergence of the four bacterial lineages. We have identified the metabolic pathways related to osmoprotection/osmoregulation and aromatic compound degradation important for XAC efficient host colonization and interaction. Expression levels of 9 CDS were analyzed after XAC growth under different glucose concentrations revealing that this sugar upregulates the expression of CDS related to gum synthesis and to osmoregulation. In addition, we describe here the construction of a DNA microarray representing 2760 CDS of XAC as a new tool for comparative genomic and gene expression studies in this phytopathogen. (AU)