The completely assembled genome of a strain from the New Zealand Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (PSA) outbreak

The complete genome sequence of various Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (PSA) strains, including some isolated in New Zealand, have previously been published. We have now finished the complete assembly of the genome of one strain of PSA from the initial outbreak in New Zealand in 2010 (ICMP18708). The genome consists of a circular chromosome of 6,555,578 base pairs and a plasmid of 74,432 base pairs. The chromosome has an abundance of mobile elements, some of which we have previously described, such as the integrative conjugative element, Pac_ICE1 (Butler et al., 2013). The New Zealand outbreak of PSA is of clonal origin. The complete genome of the original isolate, ICMP18708, can be used as a reference point to reveal the changes occurring in the pathogen over time in New Zealand. The assembly of the genome employed diverse sequencing platforms and the development of various bioinformatic tools.