Bacterial genomes: evolution of pathogenicity

Bacterial pathogens continue to pose a major threat to economically important plant resources. Disease outbreaks can occur through rapid evolution of a pathogen to overcome host defences. The advent of genome sequencing, especially next-generation technologies, has seen a revolution in the study of plant pathogen evolution over the past five years. This review highlights recent developments in understanding bacterial plant pathogen evolution, enabled by genomics and specifically focusing on type III protein effectors. The genotypic changes and mechanisms involved in pathogen evolution are now much better understood. However, there is still much to be learned about the drivers of pathogen evolution, both in terms of plant resistance and bacterial lifestyle.

► Bacterial pathogenicity determinants evolve to overcome host resistance. ► Next generation sequencing aids the comparative genomics of effector repertoires. ► Evolution of pathogenicity via effector loss has been demonstrated in the lab. ► Limited numbers of studies show pathogen evolution in the field.