Author：Rodrigo Piacentini Paes De Almeida^1,2 and Adam Christopher Retchless ¹

¹ Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
² Corresponding author, E-mail: rodrigoalmeida@berkeley.edu.

Abstrct：

    The bacterial plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa causes disease in a wide range of host plant species. However, the species is very diverse phylogenetically and phenotypically. There are four broadly recognized subspecies of X. fastidiosa, which primarily cause disease in a host specific manner. Furthermore, clusters within subspecies may also be host specific. Despite the fact that host specificity is an important characteristic of X. fastidiosa phylogenetic clusters, the determinants of specificity are unknown; this bacterium lacks a type III secretion system and effectors, often associated with specificity in other bacterial plant pathogens. Furthermore, field populations have been shown to have large genetic diversity. Because horizontal gene transfer, rearrangements, and other mutational processes appear to be frequent in X. fastidiosa, understanding how it evolves is of importance, especially in face of the fact that new diseases caused by this bacterium continue to emerge.

Keywords: Xylella fastidiosa, vector-borne, Pierce's disease, Pear leaf scorch, xylem.

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