Genome Sequence Resources from Three Isolates of the Apple Canker Pathogen Neonectria ditissima Infecting Forest Trees

Abstract

Neonectria ditissima is a generalist ascomycete plant pathogen causing canker diseases on a variety of hardwood tree species and can cross-infect many of them. The fungus enters the plants through wounds throughout the year. N. ditissima is considered a major threat to apple production responsible for the fruit tree canker disease, which damages trees and causes rotting of fruits in storage. Nearby forests and shelter belts can serve as sources of inoculum for well-managed apple orchards. Thus, knowledge about the N. ditissima isolates infecting different host species is essential for designing integrated pest management strategies. Here, we describe the genomes of three N. ditissima isolates, Nd_iso34, Nd_iso35, and Nd_iso36, infecting European beech, American tulip tree, and American beech, respectively. We obtained genome assemblies of approximately 45 megabases for all isolates, covering 94% of the N. ditissima reference annotation, and 97% of the universal single-copy orthologs (BUSCOs). We conclude that these genome assemblies are a highly relevant resource considering the scarcity of genomic data available for N. ditissima.Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Keywords

apple canker; fungal pathogens; genome sequencing; Illumina; Neonectria ditissima; tree pathogen

Published in

PhytoFrontiers
2025
Publisher: AMER PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOC

SLU Authors

• Bourras, Salim

  • Department of Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Vélëz, Heriberto

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Kean University
  • Wenzhou-Kean University

• Ihrmark, Katarina

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Ángel Corrales Gutiérrez, Miguel

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Elfstrand, Malin

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Gustavsson, Larisa

  • Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Dalman, Kerstin

  • Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Botany

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTOFR-05-24-0055-A

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/140197