Phytoplasma OY-V genome project. 'Chrysanthemum coronarium' phytoplasma strain:onion yellows

Phytoplasmas are plant pathogenic bacteria in class Mollicutes. They are transmitted by insect vectors and infect over 700 plant species in the world. Phytoplasma infection is often fatal and causes devastating damage to agricultural production around the world. Despite their agricultural importance and unique features, the difficulty in vitro culture have hindered their molecular characterization. Genome sequences of several phytoplasma strains were reported recently, and they enabled us to better understand the molecular mechanism of virulence of phytoplasmas. However, numbers of phytoplasma genomes are limited, so more information would be needed to further understanding of the pathogen. Here, we sequenced draft genome of Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris, OY-V strain. The overall characters of this genome was similar to previously reported ones, and some of known virulence factors and host-interacting proteins were also conserved in OY-V genome.