Reference Genome Resource for the Citrus Pathogen Phytophthora citrophthora

Heike Möller; Beatrix Coetzee; Jan van Niekerk; Lindy Joy Rose

doi:10.7150/jgen.89324

Reference Genome Resource for the Citrus Pathogen Phytophthora citrophthora

J Genomics. 2024 Jan 1:12:14-18. doi: 10.7150/jgen.89324. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Heike Möller¹, Beatrix Coetzee^{1

2}, Jan van Niekerk^{1

3}, Lindy Joy Rose¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Pathology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
² School for Data Sciences and Computational Thinking, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
³ Citrus Research International, P.O. Box 28, Nelspruit 1200, South Africa.

Abstract

Phytophthora citrophthora is an oomycete pathogen that infects citrus. Its occurrence in citrus-growing regions worldwide is considered a major contributor to crop losses. This study presents a high-quality genome resource for P. citrophthora, which was generated using PacBio HiFi long-read high-throughput sequencing technology. We successfully assembled a 48.5 Mb genome containing 16,409 protein-coding genes from high-quality reads. This marks the first complete genome assembly of P. citrophthora, providing a valuable resource to enhance the understanding of pathogenic behaviour and fungicide sensitivity of this destructive citrus pathogen.

Keywords: De novo genome assembly; PacBio sequencing; Phytophthora citrophthora; bioinformatics; oomycete.