Dickeya solani is an emerging pathogen that causes soft rot and blackleg diseases in several crops including Solanum tuberosum, but little is known about its genomic diversity and evolution. We combined Illumina and PacBio technologies to complete the genome sequence of D. solani strain 3337 that was used as a reference to compare with 19 other genomes (including that of the type strain IPO2222T) which were generated by Illumina technology. This population genomic analysis highlighted an unexpected variability among D. solani isolates since it led to the characterization of two distinct sub-groups within the D. solani species. This approach also revealed different types of variations such as scattered SNP/InDel variations as well as replacing and additive horizontal gene transfers (HGT). Infra-species (between the two D. solani sub-groups) and inter-species (between D. solani and D. dianthicola) replacing HGTs were observed. Finally, this work pointed that genetic and functional variation in the motility trait could contribute to aggressiveness variability in D. solani. This work revealed that D. solani genomic variability may be caused by SNPs/InDels as well as replacing and additive HGT events, including plasmid acquisition; hence the D. solani genomes are more dynamic than that were previously proposed. This work alerts on precautions in molecular diagnosis of this emerging pathogen.

Oestradiol treatment enhances type-II gonadotrophin (GTH-II) synthesis in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) at the silver stage. As a first step in studying the molecular mechanisms involved in this stimulation, we cloned and characterized the cDNA encoding the β subunit of eel GTH-II. A cDNA library was constituted in λgt10 from oestradiol-treated eels. It was screened using an oligodeoxyribonucleotide mixed probe designed to be complementary to a highly conserved region of cDNAs from several LH-related β subunits. Several clones were obtained and four were subcloned in pUC13 and sequenced. The longest clones comprised a 420 bp coding sequence, plus 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of 36 and 172 bp respectively. Comparison with GTH-II from other teleost fish permitted the localization of the putative cleavage site of a 24 amino acid signal peptide. The resulting 116 amino acid apopeptide had well-conserved cysteine positions and a putative N-linked glycosylation site; homology was 70–80% with GTH–II from other fish, 45% with LH from mammals and birds, 38% with mammalian FSH and only 35% with fish GTH-I. Preliminary results indicated a strong positive effect of oestradiol treatment on the level of the putative GTH-II β-subunit mRNA. This supports our proposal that the European eel provides a suitable model for studying the positive regulation of gonadotrophin synthesis by gonadal steroids.