Genome sequences of pathogenic and non-pathogenic Pantoea ananatis strains in maize (Zea mays L.)

We performed genome sequencing and comparative analysis of <i>Pantoea ananatis</i> strains isolated from corn leaves expressing typical bacterial leaf streak (BLS) and maize white spot (MWS) symptoms to confirm bacterial identity and to understand the relationship among these strains and <i>P. ananatis</i> strains isolated from different plant hosts in Brazil. In pathogenicity tests, strains 4.2 and 13.3 isolated from symptomatic BLS leaves were non-pathogenic on corn. In contrast, strain B13 isolated from MWS-diseased leaf tissue caused symptoms typical of MWS. Our comparative analysis revealed that all three strains are very genetically similar. The G+C (%) content of strains 4.2 and 13.3 was 53.5%, while the B13 content was 53.7%. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis showed that strains B13 and 13.3, B13 and 4.2, and 4.2 and 13.3 shared ANIs of 99.17%, 99.15% and 99.99%, respectively. Strains 13.3, B13, and 4.2 shared ~99% ANI with <i>P. ananatis</i> type strain LMG 2665. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first genome sequences of <i>P. ananatis</i> strains isolated from corn in Brazil.