Poster: Molecular & Cellular Plant-Microbe Interactions: Proteomics/Metabolomics/Genomics
774-P
The genome of the endophytic Curtobacterium strain ER 1.4/2 and its potential as a biocontrol of several plant diseases.
L. CURSINO (1), K. Pawlak (2), G. Li (2), R. Worobo (3) (1) Keuka College, U.S.A.; (2) Hobart and William Smith Colleges, U.S.A.; (3) Cornell University, U.S.A.
Curtobacterium are Gram-positive bacteria that can live inside of plants as endophytes and also have the ability to cause disease such as wilting disease in dry beans. Curtobacterium sp. strain ER1.4/2 (ER1.4/2) was isolated from branches of healthy sweet-orange (Citrus sinensis). The genomic DNA of this bacterium was extracted and the whole DNA sequencing was performed using next-generation DNA sequencing by the Illumina Hiseq 2000 method. The genome annotation of Curtobacterium strain ER1.4/2 was initially performed using a RAST (Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology) server. The draft genome contains 3,692,034 bases with a GC content of 71.6 %. Important genes such as a bacteriocin and siderophores were found in the genome. This bacteria showed antibiosis in vitro against several important phytopathogens such as Xylella fastidiosa CVC, Xanthomonas campestris pv. Glycines; Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We are currently identifying ER1.4/2 at the species level by FAME to confirm its 16S rDNA identification. In addition, studies on its interaction with several cultivars of Phaseoulus vulgaris and Glycine max are underway. The ability of ER1.4/2 to colonize multiple plants, with its wide-spectrum antibiosis and non-pathogenicity to all plants tested make this bacterium an excellent biocontrol candidate against bacterial diseases.