Ralstonia solanacearum sp.
Ralstonia solanacearum GMI1000, MOLK2 and IPO1609
A phytopathogenic bacterium with a wide host range
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Ralstonia solanacearum, previously known as Pseudomonas solanacearum, was originally described by Smith (1896) as the causative agent of bacterial wilt of solanaceous plants. It is internationally recognized as one of the leading models in the analysis of plant pathogenicity. This soil bacterium is the causal agent of a severe and devastating disease of major economical importance on solanaceous crops. It also causes disease on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, therefore facilitating analysis of basic molecular mechanisms governing pathogenicity. The high economic and social impact of this organism results from its wide geographical distribution in all warm and tropical countries of the globe. This impact also results from the very wide host range of R. solanacearum which comprises over 200 plant species, representing over 50 botanical families and covering both monocots and dicots extending from annual plants to trees and shrubs. Recently, geographical distribution of the pathogen has been extended to more temperate countries from Europe and North America as the result of the dissemination of strains adapted to cooler climates.
The sequencing and annotation of the complete genome from strain GMI1000, performed in collaboration with the French sequencing center Genoscope, has been a major achievement which has contributed to the development of genomic resources to study the pathogenicity determinants in this bacterium. GMI1000 is a wide host range strain originally isolated from tomato in French Guyana. It is a race 1 biovar 3 strain belonging to Phylotype I. Recently the draft genome sequence of two additional strains was realized. Both strains belong to Phylotype II. Strain Molk2 was isolated from banana in Philippines and is classified as a race 2 strain while strain IPO1609 is race 3 (potato) strain isolated in the Netherlands.
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GMI1000 Chromosome

GMI1000 Megaplasmid

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