Mobile genetic elements accompany the emergence of clonal crop lineages from weed-associated populations of Xanthomonas campestris

Weed-associated Xanthomonas campestris strains predominantly cluster in basal, genetically diverse lineages, while crop-associated strains concentrate in host-associated clonal lineages.

• Why it matters: The evolutionary links between weed and crop isolates are unclear, limiting biosecurity surveillance for black rot pathogen diversification and emerging threats.
• What they did: The study combined phylogenomics and pangenomics across cultivated and non-cultivated hosts, including nine newly sequenced strains from invasive garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata).
• The result: The rise of specialized crop-associated clonal lineages coincides with multiple inferred acquisitions of large mobile elements and plasmids, which are enriched in clonal lineages yet also present in diverse weed strains.

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