Genome sequence of a citrus fungal pathogen

Lasiodiplodia theobromae (L. theobromae) belongs to a diverse genus of fungal pathogens associated with perennial tropical fruit plants worldwide. In citrus, L. theobromae causes stem-end rot (SER), a damaging postharvest disease that is aggravated when trees are also infected with the citrus greening bacterium, a Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. Due to the latent infection of L. theobromae during the preharvest stage, it is also difficult to control by chemical and physical treatment. We sequenced and assembled the first genome of isolate CITRA15 of L. theobromae obtained from citrus, providing a resource for future research on postharvest and preharvest disease management of citrus and other fruit crops and diagnostics.