Agricultural Microbes Genome 2 Conference

Poster: Microbial Genome Sequencing/Programs
P01_07.html

CONSTRUCTION OF AN ORDERED COSMID LIBRARY OF WESTERN X-DISEASE PHYTOPLASMA

¹ Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

Western X-disease (WX) phytoplasma causes significant losses of stonefruit (peaches, sweet and sour cherries) in the United States. Phytoplasmas belong to the class Mollicutes (other members include the mycoplasmas, ureaplasmas, acholeplasmas and spiroplasmas) but unlike all the other members of the Mollicutes, they cannot be cultured in vitro. Phytoplasmas only occur in the phloem of infected plants and are transmitted in a highly specific manner by phloem-feeding insects. We aim to sequence the entire genome of WX phytoplasma in an attempt to understand the biology of this important group of plant pathogens. At 670 kb, it will be one of the smallest genomes to be sequenced and the first of an uncultivable plant pathogen. Due to the difficulty in obtaining sufficient pure phytoplasma DNA for a shotgun sequencing approach, the WX phytoplasma genome sequencing project will be initiated from an ordered set of cosmid clones. We have currently cloned a large proportion of the WX phytoplasma genome. Our unique cloning strategy for working with very small amounts of phytoplasma DNA will be presented along with preliminary results of ordering the clones.