Fire Blight: Applied Genomic Insights of the Pathogen and Host

• Published in: Annual review of phytopathology Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 475 - 494
• Main Authors: MALNOY, Mickael, MARTENS, Stefan, NORELLI, John L, BARNY, Marie-Anne, SUNDIN, George W, SMITS, Theo H. M, DUFFY, Brion
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto, CA Annual Reviews 01-01-2012
• Subjects: Agricultural sciences; Bacterial plant pathogens; Biological and medical sciences; Blight; Erwinia amylovora; Erwinia amylovora - genetics; Erwinia amylovora - pathogenicity; Erwinia amylovora - physiology; Fires; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, Bacterial - genetics; Genes, Plant - genetics; Genes. Genome; Genomic analysis; Genomics; Host plants; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Life Sciences; Malus; Malus - genetics; Malus - microbiology; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Pathogens; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Reviews; Rosaceae; Rosaceae - genetics; Rosaceae - microbiology; Virulence; Plant pathology; Plant pathogen; RNA; Genomics; Rosaceae; Transcriptome; Review; Transcriptomics; Dicotyledones; Pathogenic; Angiospermae; Bacteria; Nucleic acid; Enterobacteriaceae; Biochemical compound; Pyrus; Pantoea; Host; Woody plant; Erwinia amylovora; Infection; Molecular evolution; evolutionary genomics; Spermatophyta; Molecular biology; Malus; DEFENSE RESPONSES; BIOCONTROL STRAIN C9-1; III EFFECTOR; PSEUDOMONAS-SYRINGAE; UBIQUITOUS PLASMID PEA29; ERWINIA-AMYLOVORA FUNCTIONS; QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI; MALUS X DOMESTICA; transcriptomics; PANTOEA-AGGLOMERANS; DISEASE RESISTANCE
• ISSN: 0066-4286; 1545-2107
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-081211-172931

The enterobacterial phytopathogen Erwinia amylovora causes fire blight, an invasive disease that threatens a wide range of commercial and ornamental Rosaceae host plants. The response elicited by E. amylovora in its host during disease development is similar to the hypersensitive reaction that typically leads to resistance in an incompatible host-pathogen interaction, yet no gene-for-gene resistance has been described for this host-pathogen system. Comparative genomic analysis has found an unprecedented degree of genetic uniformity among strains of E. amylovora, suggesting that the pathogen has undergone a recent genetic bottleneck. The genome of apple, an important host of E. amylovora, has been sequenced, creating new opportunities for the study of interactions between host and pathogen during fire blight development and for the identification of resistance genes. This review includes recent advances in the genomics of both host and pathogen.