The National Onion Bacterial Strain Collection (NOBSC), a repository of over 2,200 publicly available bacterial strains isolated from onion

Abstract

The National Onion Bacterial Strain Collection (NOBSC) is a publicly accessible resource comprising more than 2,200 bacterial strains isolated primarily from diseased onion plants across major U.S. onion-producing regions. Developed as part of the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crops Research Initiative project “Stop the Rot” (award no. 2019-51181-30013), the NOBSC represents a substantial curation of onion-associated bacteria available to the research community. The collection houses strains from genera that include species with important onion pathogens—Burkholderia, Enterobacter, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Rahnella, and Xanthomonas—as well as isolates of more than 130 other genera recovered from symptomatic onion tissues (foliage and bulbs). Accompanying metadata include geographic origin, host tissue type, phenotypic assessments (including onion pathogenicity assays), and 16S rRNA-based genus assignments. The NOBSC provides an excellent resource for plant pathology studies, comparative genomics, and the development of molecular diagnostic tools, as well as standardized strain material for phenotypic screening of onion germplasm for resistance to bacterial pathogens. All strains are available for request directly from nobsc.alliumnet.com at cost-recovery rates, contingent on the requester having appropriate permitting. The collection is maintained at the University of Georgia.