Partner und Internationale Organisationen
(Englisch)
|
AT, BE, BG, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, HU, IL, IT, LU, NL, NO, PL, SE, SI, TR, UK
|
Abstract
(Englisch)
|
Erwinia amylovora (originally from northeastern North America) causes fire blight, the most serious disease of pome fruits (e.g., apple, pear) and related forest and ornamental Rosaceae in Switzerland and Europe. Although this was the first bacterial plant pathogen ever described and causes severe economic losses worldwide, much remains unknown about its virulence and epidemiologically important survival mechanisms. Elucidating these mechanisms will facilitate the design of more effective and sustainable disease control strategies. The recently completed sequencing of the E. amylovora genome provides a valuable opportunity to examine the genetic basis of how this pathogen survives in the environment and causes fire blight. Erwinia pyrifoliae is a newly described, closely related pathogen that has a much narrower host-range and geographic distribution (limited to Asian pear and so far only known from East Asia). The very limited genetic analysis conducted thus far indicates that although these pathogens are highly similar they have distinct differences. This project will sequence the entire genomes of E. pyrifoliae and a European E. amylovora strain. Time permitting, comparison with complete genome sequences of E. amylovora strains will be conducted. Follow-up projects will then utilize this information to identify determinants for pathogenicity and host-range differences. It is expected that information will be gleaned from comparative genomics analysis regarding fundamental evolutionary questions of whether these related pathogens independently evolved (E. amylovora in N. America and E. pyrifoliae in E. Asia) or diverged at some point from a currently unknown introduction. Further applications that will be explored depending on project progress include exploiting the E. pyrifoliae and E. amylovora sequences to develop improved diagnostics, and examining the molecular basis of E. pyrifoliae and host interactions.
|
