Genome sequencing of Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens strains for taxonomic reclassification

Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens in the family Microbacteriaceae encompasses a group of plant pathogenic coryneform strains affecting annual crops and ornamental plants. The species includes five pathovars namely C. flaccumfaciens pv. betae, C. flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, C. flaccumfaciens pv. ilicis, C. flaccumfaciens pv. oortii, and C. flaccumfaciens pv. poinsettiae. Despite the economic impact of C. flaccumfaciens on agricultural crops, its members have rarely been investigated for their phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic authenticity. In this study, DNA similarity indexes i.e. average nucleotide identity (ANIb) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) were assessed among all publicly available genome resources of C. flaccumfaciens.