MLST is a typing scheme based on the DNA sequence of typically four to
10 loci in a bacterial genome to identify and classify bacterial
strains and to unravel population genetics, molecular evolution, and
epidemiology of the species the strains belong to. MLST was first
proposed in 1998 by Maiden and colleagues.
In MLST, allele sequences at each locus are assigned numbers. Strains that have the same
alleles at all loci are considered to belong to the same sequence type.
Also every sequence type has a number. Most of the downstream analyses in MLST are based on allele
numbers and sequence types. In MLSA instead, the actual DNA sequences are used in the downstream
analyses. Moreover, MLST is usually applied to strains that belong to
a well-defined species while MLSA is more often used when species
boundaries are not well known and MLSA data are used to improve
species descriptions.
The following papers describe MLST/MLSA studies in plant pathogens:
- Castillo, J.A. and J.T. Greenberg,
Evolutionary Dynamics Of Ralstonia Solanacearum. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2006.
- Feng, J., Schuenzel, E. L., Li, J., Schaad, N. W.,
Multilocus sequence typing reveals two evolutionary lineages of Acidovorax avenae subsp. Citrulli Phytopathology, 2009. 99(8):913-20.
- Goss, E.M., M. Kreitman, and J. Bergelson, Genetic diversity, recombination and cryptic clades in Pseudomonas viridiflava infecting natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics, 2005. 169(1): p. 21-35.
- Hwang, M.S., R.L. Morgan, S.F. Sarkar, P.W. Wang, and D.S. Guttman,
Phylogenetic characterization of virulence and resistance phenotypes of Pseudomonas syringae. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2005. 71(9): p. 5182-91.
- Sarkar, S.F. and D.S. Guttman,Evolution
of the core genome of Pseudomonas syringae, a highly clonal, endemic
plant pathogen. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2004. 70(4): p. 1999-2012.
- Scally, M., E.L. Schuenzel, R. Stouthamer, and L. Nunney,
Multilocus sequence type system for the plant pathogen Xylella
fastidiosa and relative contributions of recombination and point
mutation to clonal diversity. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2005. 71(12):
p. 8491-9.
- Yan, S., H. Liu, T.J. Mohr, J. Jenrette, R. Chiodini, M. Zaccardelli, J.C. Setubal, and B.A. Vinatzer,
Role of recombination
in the evolution of the model plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae
pv. tomato DC3000, a very atypical tomato strain. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2008. 74(10): p. 3171-81.
- Young, J.M., D.C. Park, H.M. Shearman, and E. Fargier,
A multilocus sequence analysis of the
genus Xanthomonas. Syst Appl Microbiol, 2008. 31(5): p. 366-77.
