Mining the genome of Lysobacter capsici AZ78 to identify the mechanism involved in the biological control of Phytophtora infestans and Plasmopara viticola

The use of biological control microorganisms to protect plants against pathogenic oomycetes may contribute to make crop production more sustainable. Recently, we showed that Lysobacter capsici AZ78 effectively controls grapevine downy mildew and tomato late blight incited by Plasmopara viticola and Phytophthora infestans, respectively. Furthermore, we proved that this bacterial strain can be combined with copper based fungicides for controlling both the plant pathogenic oomycetes. In order to investigate the mechanisms that can be involved in the antagonism of L. capsici AZ78, the genome of this bacterium was sequenced through Illumina GAIIX system. The L. capsici AZ78 draft genome is constituted of 6.3 Mb with a 66.43% GC content. Mining the annotated L. capsici AZ78 genome showed the presence of genes coding for chitinases, glucanases, lipases, xilanases.and a high amount of proteases, lytic enzymes that can be potentially involved in the control of plant pathogenic microorganisms. Furthermore, the analysis revealed also that L. capsici AZ78 genome contains genes responsible for the production of non-ribosomally synthesized peptides with antibiotic activity. Interestingly, L. capsici AZ78 genome encompasses genes involved in resistance to drugs and heavy metals as cadmium, cobalt, copper and zinc. The availability of the whole genome of L. capsici AZ78 represents a first step in unravelling the biology of the biological control bacteria belonging to the genus Lysobacter and, moreover, will provide the basis for analysing the interaction between this biocontrol bacterium and plant pathogenic oomycetes