Comparative characterization of virulent and less virulent Lasiodiplodia theobromae isolates.

attacks over 500 plant species and is an important pathogen of tropical and subtropical fruit. Due to global warming and climate change, the incidence of disease associated with is rising. Virulence tests performed on avocado and mango branches and fruit showed large diversity of virulence of different isolates. Genome sequencing was performed for two isolates representing more virulent (Avo62) and less virulent (Man7) strains to determine the cause of their variation. Comparative genomics, including orthologous and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses, identified SNPs in the less virulent strain in genes related to secreted cell wall-degrading enzymes, stress, transporters, sucrose, and proline metabolism, genes in secondary metabolic clusters, effectors, genes involved in the cell cycle, and genes belonging to transcription factors that may contribute to the virulence of . Moreover, CAZymes analysis revealed a minor increase in gene counts of cutinases and pectinases and the absence of a few glycoside hydrolases in the less virulent isolate. Changes in gene-copy numbers might explain the morphological differences found in the in-vitro experiments. The more virulent Avo62 grew faster on glucose, sucrose, or starch as a single carbon source. It also grew faster under stress conditions such as osmotic stress, alkaline pH, and relatively high temperature. Furthermore, the more virulent isolate secreted more ammonia than the less virulent one both and . This study results describe genome-based variability related to virulence, which might prove useful for the mitigation of postharvest stem-end rot.