Pathogen Profile of , the Causative Agent of Banana Sheath Rot.

Banana ( spp.) is an important fruit and food crop worldwide. In recent years, banana sheath rot has become a major problem in banana cultivation, causing plant death and substantial economic losses. Nevertheless, the pathogen profile of this disease has not been fully characterized. is a versatile bacterium capable of colonizing different hosts, such as plants, humans, insects, and animals, and is recognized as an emerging pathogen in various hosts. In this study, we obtained 12 bacterial isolates from 12 different banana samples showing banana sheath rot in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces, China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences confirmed that all 12 isolates were strains. We sequenced the genomes of these strains, performed comparative genomic analysis with other sequenced strains, and found a lack of consistency in accessory gene content among these strains. However, prediction based on the pan-genome of revealed 22 unique virulence factors carried by the 12 pathogenic isolates. Microbiome and microbial interaction network analysis of endophytes between the healthy tissues of diseased plants and healthy plants of two cultivars showed that negatively interacts with in banana plants and that might indirectly inhibit to promote growth. These results suggest that banana sheath rot is caused by the imbalance of plant endophytes and opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, providing an important basis for research and control of this disease.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.