Population genomics reveals intricate variation in a major pathogen of rice
S. MIDHA (1), K. Bansal (1), R. Sonti (2), P. Patil (1) (1) CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, India; (2) CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India

Rice is a staple food of half of the world population. The gram negative bacterium, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is a serious pathogen causing loss up to 80% of crop yield. Resistant varieties and breeding programs are being hampered by emergence of highly pathogenic strains. Herein we report population based whole genome sequencing and analysis of 100 Xoo strains from India. Xoo population exhibits epidemiological population structure with a major clonal lineage (BXL-I) and four minor but diverse lineages (BXL- II to V) with high rate of recombination and mutation. Interestingly, the variant alleles, gene clusters and highly pathogenic strains are largely restricted to BXL II-V and in particularly to BXL-III.  In a phylogenomic markers based tree, Xoo strains from India along with other Asian isolates form a cluster that is distinct from African and US Xoo strains. Further we were also able to identify core effector genes that will guide in identification and deployment of appropriate ‘R’ genes essential for durable resistance. This genomic resource will be invaluable in surveillance and epidemiology of Xoo.

Abstract Number: P13-414
Session Type: Poster