Correction: Studholme et al., Draft Genome Sequences of Xanthomonas sacchari and Two Banana-Associated Xanthomonads Reveal Insights into the Xanthomonas Group 1 clade. Genes 2011, 2, 1050-1065.

Following publication of our article [1], we found errors in analyses performed by the corresponding author (DJS) related to the phylogenetic relationship between Xylella species and the other xanthomonads. These errors do not make any difference to the main findings and conclusions reported in our paper. For example, the phylogenetic positions of NCPPB1131, NCPPB1132 and NCPPB4393 within the Group 1 Xanthomonas species are unaffected. However, we wish to apologize to the authors of a previous work [2] for creating any negative impression on the quality of their phylogenetic analyses and to take this opportunity to rectify the errors. [...].

Following publication of our article [1], we found errors in analyses performed by the corresponding author (DJS) related to the phylogenetic relationship between Xylella species and the other xanthomonads. These errors do not make any difference to the main findings and conclusions reported in our paper. For example, the phylogenetic positions of NCPPB1131, NCPPB1132 and NCPPB4393 within the Group 1 Xanthomonas species are unaffected. However, we wish to apologize to the authors of a previous work [2] for creating any negative impression on the quality of their phylogenetic analyses and to take this opportunity to rectify the errors. The details of the errors are listed below:

In section 2.3 of our paper [1], we wrote “for three of the genes (efp, glnA and gyrB) we were unable to build valid multiple sequence alignments because of a lack of orthologues with detectable nucleotide sequence similarity. For example, blastn searches against the NCBI non-redundant nucleotide database, using X. albilineans gyrB (XALc_0004) as the query, yielded no significant matches in Xylella species”. This statement was misleading as there are in fact orthologues of efp, glnA and gyrB in species of both Xanthomonas and Xylella.

In section 2.3 of our paper [1], we wrote “Second, Pieretti’s analysis … appears to be partly based on alignments of non-orthologous gene sequences (e.g. their gyrB sequences are not orthologous between Xylella and Xanthomonas species)”. This statement was incorrect; there is no evidence to suggest that any non-orthologous sequences were aligned in the phylogenetic analyses performed by Pieretti et al. [2].

In section 2.4 of our paper [1] we wrote “the last common ancestor of X. albilineans and Xylella fastidiosa was also the ancestor of the other xanthomonads”. In fact it remains unanswered whether or not Xylella forms a monophyletic group with X. albilineans and the other Group 1 Xanthomonas species. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to write that the last common ancestor of X. albilineans and Xylella fastidiosa also the ancestor of the other xanthomonads.