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Abstract:
Ralstonia solanacearum(Rso), the causal agent of bacterial wilt disease, is one of the most devastating phytopathogens. With a surprisingly broad host range, it threatens more than 200 plant species, including major crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc. It is so genetically heterogeneous in nature that it is difficult to develop disease resistance against it. Rso translocate special molecules (known as effectors) into their plant host cells in order to effectively suppress plant immunity. One of the most important objectives for plant breeding is to confer disease resistance. These days, effectors are used as an uprising tool to breed disease resistance, referred to as effector-assisted molecular breeding. We aim to comparatively analyze Rso genomes and investigate their effector diversity and its interactions with host plants. We sequenced 30 Rso strains, which were isolated from different host plants in different geographic regions of South Korea. We applied comparative genomics approach to investigate the phylogenetic structure of this strain set and currently we report that, surprisingly, these strains show high level of genetic diversification and significant phylogenetic distances even in a single phylotype. We also screened wild-type potato plants and their relatives against the Rso Korean strains and identified avirulence gene candidates based on the comparative genomic analysis. The gene candidate constructs would be cloned or synthesized to be tested whether they can induce plant disease resistance. We hope it contribute to the development of effector-assisted disease resistant potato breeding system so expect it to accelerate breeding for disease resistant lines.
