This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Graduate students in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences contributed to the first complete genome sequence of a harmful plant pathogen from an ornamental Prunus host through an active-learning activity in a plant disease diagnosis course. The pathogen—Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni—is a bacterium that causes disease on species such as peach, apricot and plum trees, as well as on ornamental species such as cherry laurel.
Having the full genome sequence from an ornamental host will help future diagnostic efforts, the researchers said. The project was a collaboration among the students, faculty in the college, Penn State Extension and the Plant Disease Clinic in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology. Together, the team determined the complete genome sequence of the pathogen, publishing their work in the journal Microbiology Resource Announcements.
Verónica Román-Reyna, an assistant professor of plant pathology who led the genomic sequencing activity as part of the course and co-authored the resulting paper, said that in addition to providing key insights into the pathogen, the project was an opportunity to help train the next generation of scientists. "These research techniques are vital for our students to understand," she said. "And in addition to gaining valuable experience, we now have the full genome sequence to share with other plant pathologists as a resource for understanding what the bacterium can do, how it differs from other bacteria and what to investigate next.
It also helps the clinic, because they now have the sequence to compare against if they see this pathogen again in the future." The project began through the Harbaugh Faculty Scholars program, which integrated a genomics module into a plant disease diagnosis course in collaboration with the lead instructor, assistant professor Sharifa Crandall. "Students learn how to ID diseases, up close and personal, through observation of infected plant samples and via cutting-edge DNA diagnostic tools," Crandall said. "Knowing which pathogen is which helps farmers and foresters make targeted disease management decisions." To find samples for the students to analyze, they collaborated with Penn State's Plant Disease Clinic, a free service that provides clinical diagnoses of plant diseases submitted by Pennsylvania agricultural producers, urban gardeners and homeowners.
"The clinic received a plant sample with symptoms of a bacterial disease that we thought would be really interesting to investigate further," said Sara May, head diagnostician and manager of the clinic and co-author on the paper. "It was on an ornamental Prunus species, a cherry laurel, and it was a pathogen that we'd seen before but didn't have good information as far as genetic sequencing of the whole genome. We knew it would be a great opportunity for the students to delve into." Richard González, a dual-title doctoral student in plant pathology and microbiome sciences, said he was particularly interested in participating in the project because his own research focuses on Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni isolated from peaches and nectarines in Pennsylvania.
Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly. "In this project, Xap was isolated from a different host, which made it especially interesting and directly connected to my research interests," he said. "I saw it as an opportunity not only to contribute my experience with Xap and antimicrobial resistance but also to learn more about bacterial genomics and how genomic data can be generated, analyzed and shared with the scientific community." The resulting genome sequence was uploaded to GenBank, an open-access public database of DNA sequences built by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a part of the U.S.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
