Genomic diversity of phyloplane-associated Pantoea species in Pakistan cotton crop

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) of cotton is an important bacterial disease occurring in all cotton producing countries of the world, including Pakistan. BLB can be one of the most destructive infections that cotton encounters in fields. Infected cotton samples were collected from five different districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Whole genome sequences (WGS) were generated for 43 isolates using Illumina HiSeq 4000. Different epiphytic Pantoea species were found to be associated with symptomatic leaves of cotton. The genome of Pantoea species have single circular chromosome ~4.8Mbp with average genomic GC content of 55.3%.