Genome sequences of distinct genotypes of bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas euvesicatoria pv. euvesicatoria from pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in Serbia

2. Abstract We present genome sequence data for three strains of the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas euvesicatoria pv. euvesicatoria (Xeu) collected from pepper crops showing bacterial spot symptoms in 2016 at Irig, Serbia. We generated raw sequencing reads and annotated contig-level genome assemblies. We checked for the presence of sequences of known type-3 secretion system (T3SS) effector genes and plasmid-like sequences. All three strains fell in the same clade within Xeu. Strain X13 is most closely related to strain 66b, collected in Bulgaria in 2012. Strains X22 and X31 are most closely related to Tu-10 collected in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Türkiye in 2020. In common with other members of the clade, all three strains share a 75-kb plasmid that carries T3SS effector genes avrBs3, xopBA, xopAQ and xopE. Additionally, strain X13 shares extensive sequence similarity to the pXCV183 plasmid, including T3SS effector gene xopAX, and shares extensive sequence similarity with plasmid pXap41, including T3SS effector gene xopE3. This difference in plasmid content might contribute to the observed difference in virulence among the Serbian Xeu strains. The three Serbian strains lack the 31-kb plasmid pLMG730.4 that is seen in several Vietnamese and Canadian strains within this clade of Xeu. The data presented will be a useful resource for future molecular epidemiology and genomic surveillance of this pathogen in the Balkan region, augmenting the previously available draft genome sequences of Xeu strains 66b (Bulgaria) and 83M (North Macedonia).