The origin and current situation of FOC R4T in Israel and the Middle East (2020)
Scientific article
31/12/2020
Description
The pathogen was identified as TR4 by VCG tests, pathogenicity assays and molecular verification. The complete genomes of five representative TR4 isolates including two from Israel, one from Jordan, one from the Philippines, and one from Indonesia were sequenced, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analyses were conducted. SNPs were compared to 11 additional sequenced TR4 isolates, to determine the origin of the Israeli isolates. SNP detection and phylogeographical analyses determined that the Middle Eastern isolates are closely related, indicating that the pathogen most likely spread to Israel from Jordan, while those from Colombia are related to a representative isolate from Indonesia.