Draft Genome Sequence of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri’ Strain P1, the Causal Agent of Pear Decline Disease

Publication

Citation

Alessio et al. (2025). PhytoFrontiers™ 5 (3)

Names (3)

Ca. Phytoplasma mali

Ca. Phytoplasma prunorum

Ca. Phytoplasma pyri

Abstract

This study reports the draft genome of ‘ Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri’ strain P1, isolated from Argentina. The genome assembly consisted of 17 contigs, with a total length of 575,431 bp, a GC content of 20.35%, and 125× coverage. A total of 537 genes were annotated, including those related to metabolism, genetic information processing, and signaling. Phylogenetic analysis placed ‘ Ca. Phytoplasma pyri’ within the 16SrX group, supporting its classification as a distinct species from ‘ Ca. Phytoplasma mali’ and ‘ Ca. Phytoplasma prunorum’, with average nucleotide identity values ranging from 90.3 to 90.5%. In contrast, strain P1 shares 98.1% average nucleotide identity with the Chilean strain ‘ Ca. Phytoplasma pyri’ UCh_1, supporting their classification as members of the same species. The investigation also identified 12 secreted proteins, including homologs of known effectors, as well as conserved proteins associated with virulence mechanisms. A homolog of the immunodominant membrane protein was also characterized, revealing conserved gene organization across related strains. These findings contribute to the understanding of ‘ Ca. Phytoplasma pyri’ pathogenicity and provide valuable genomic data for future research. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

Authors

Alessio, Florencia Ivette; Bongiorno, Vanina Aylen; von Backzo, Oscar Hernan; Marcone, Carmine; Conci, Luis Rogelio; Fernández, Franco Daniel

Publication date

2025-09-01

DOI

10.1094/phytofr-04-25-0038-a