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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300725
Title: Identification of putative plant pathogenic determinants from a draft genome sequence of an opportunistic klebsiella pneumoniae strain

Author
item Medrano, Enrique
item Bell, Alois - Al
item Purgason, Anne

Submitted to: American Society for Microbiology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2013
Publication Date: 6/23/2013
Citation: Medrano, E.G., Bell, A.A., Purgason, A.A. 2013. Identification of putative plant pathogenic determinants from a draft genome sequence of an opportunistic Klebsiella pneumoniae strain. 113th General Meeting/American Society for Microbiology, May 18-21, 2013, Denver, Colorado. p. B-472.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Klebsiella pneumoniae has been known historically as a causal agent of bacterial pneumonia. More recently, K. pneumoniaerepresentatives have been shown to have a broad ecological distribution and are recognized nitrogen-fixers. Previously, we demonstrated the capacity of K. pneumoniae strain Kp 5-1R to opportunistically infect developing cotton bolls. Strain Kp 5-1R was isolated from a southern green stink bug (Nezara viridula) which is both an important pest of cotton and a vector of microbial pathogens. Here, we present a draft sequence of the genome of Kp 5-1R. Roche 454 pyrosequencing technology was used to sequence three libraries, including a GS Titanium Shotgun, 3 Kb paired-end, and an 8 Kb paired-end. Based on the GS De Novo Assembler 454 program, the genome of Kp 5-1R was determined to consist of an estimated 5.3 Mb chromosome (GC-content of 57%) and a 1.8 Kb plasmid (GC-content of 50%). The NCBI blast software was used manually to perform the preliminary annotation of the draft genome. Amongst the putative genes associated with disease production there was a region of the genome that contained significant homology to type IV secretion operons. In addition to involvement in bacterial conjugation, a type IV secretion system (T4SS) is an established determinant of pathogenicity critical to both plant and animal host infections. Notably, components of a T4SS were identified in our previously published genome sequence of Pantoea sp. strain Sc 1, a similarly opportunistic cotton pathogen. This work indicated the potential existence of a common mechanism used by opportunistic cotton pathogens from different genera to infect green bolls.