Draft Genome of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum Haplotype C (LsoC) from Carrot Psyllids Removed from Symptomatic Carrots in Norway

The fastidious prokaryote Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso), transmitted by the tomato potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli), is associated with the Zebra Chip disease of potato. Plants infected with Liberibacter may experience significant yield losses and these plants also serve as potential reservoirs for Liberibacter to spread to other psyllid hosts with alternate crop feeding preferences, potentially introducing new epidemiological focal points among crops. New associations between Liberibacter species and crop plants have been detected in different parts of the world, presenting concerns about the potential roles of these strains in causing disease. Carrots (Daucus carota) showing damage from the feeding of carrot psyllids (Trioza apicalis) were reported to be infected with a new haplotype of Lso designated LsoC. We sequenced and analyzed genomic contigs of DNA isolated from psyllids collected in Norway that tested positive for the presence of Lso. Using Illumina high-throughput short-sequence methods, we generated contigs and assembled a draft genome for LsoC. Differences between the LsoC were identified and contrasted with the LsoB haplotype from the United States. These differences can be used to understand the evolutionary divergence of haplotypes and factors involved in psyllid-vector/plant-host interactions.