Division of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Abstract:
Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that cause numerous diseases. This study shows a strong positive selection on the phytoplasma antigenic membrane protein (Amp). The ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions was >1 with all the methods we tested. The clear positive selections imply an important biological role for Amp in host-bacterium interactions.