Research output per year
Research output per year
Leighton Pritchard*, Rachel H. Glover, Sonia Humphris, John G. Elphinstone, Ian K. Toth
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Soft rot Enterobacteriaceae (SRE) are bacterial plant pathogens that cause blackleg, wilt and soft rot diseases on a broad range of important crop and ornamental plants worldwide. These organisms (spanning the genera Erwinia, Pectobacterium, Dickeya, and Pantoea) cause significant economic and yield losses in the field, and in storage. They are transmissible through surface water, by trade and other movement of plant material and soil, and in some cases are subject to international legislative and quarantine restrictions. Effective detection and diagnosis in support of food security legislation and epidemiology is dependent on the ability to classify pathogenic isolates precisely. Diagnostics and classification are made more difficult by the influence of horizontal gene transfer on phenotype, and historically complex and sometimes inaccurate nomenclatural and taxonomic assignments that persist in strain collections and online sequence databases. Here, we briefly discuss the relationship between taxonomy, genotype and phenotype in the SRE, and their implications for diagnostic testing and legislation. We present novel whole-genome classifications of the SRE, illustrating inconsistencies between the established taxonomies and evidence from completely sequenced isolates. We conclude with a perspective on the future impact of widespread whole-genome sequencing and classification methods on detection and identification of bacterial plant pathogens in support of legislative and policy efforts in food security.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 12-24 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Analytical Methods |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 7 Jan 2016 |
Person: Academic
Research output: Digital or non-textual outputs › Software
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
Pritchard, L. (Interviewee)
Activity: Public Engagement and Outreach › Media Participation
Pritchard, L. (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Pritchard, L. (Speaker)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Key-note speaker and plenary lectures at conferences