Bacterial diseases of grapevine

Grapevines are affected by three major bacterial diseases worldwide, such as bacterial blight (Xylophilus ampelinus), Pierce’sdisease (Xylella fastidiosa) and crown gall (Agrobacterium vitis). These bacteria grow in the vascular system of their host, thus they invadeand colonize the whole plant, independently on symptom development. Latently infected propagating material is a major factor in theirspreading. Therefore the use of bacteria-free planting stock has a basic importance in viticulture. Today several innovative diagnosticmethods, mostly based on polymerase chain reaction, are available to detect and identify bacterial pathogens of grapevines. For production ofbacteria-free plants, the use hot water treatment followed by establishment of in vitro shoot tip cultures is proposed

Assessing Ozone-Related Health Impacts under a Changing Climate

Climate change may increase the frequency and intensity of ozone episodes in future summers in the United States. However, only recently have models become available that can assess the impact of climate change on O(3) concentrations and health effects at regional and local scales that are relevant to adaptive planning. We developed and applied an integrated modeling framework to assess potential O(3)-related health impacts in future decades under a changing climate. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration–Goddard Institute for Space Studies global climate model at 4° × 5° resolution was linked to the Penn State/National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model 5 and the Community Multiscale Air Quality atmospheric chemistry model at 36 km horizontal grid resolution to simulate hourly regional meteorology and O(3) in five summers of the 2050s decade across the 31-county New York metropolitan region. We assessed changes in O(3)-related impacts on summer mortality resulting from climate change alone and with climate change superimposed on changes in O(3) precursor emissions and population growth. Considering climate change alone, there was a median 4.5% increase in O(3)-related acute mortality across the 31 counties. Incorporating O(3) precursor emission increases along with climate change yielded similar results. When population growth was factored into the projections, absolute impacts increased substantially. Counties with the highest percent increases in projected O(3) mortality spread beyond the urban core into less densely populated suburban counties. This modeling framework provides a potentially useful new tool for assessing the health risks of climate change

Identification of a major QTL for Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni resistance in apricot

Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni causes bacterial spot of stone fruit resulting in severe yield losses in apricot production systems. Present on all continents, the pathogen is regulated in Europe as a quarantine organism. Host resistance is an important component of integrated pest management; however, little work has been done describing resistance against X. arboricola pv. pruni. In this study, an apricot population derived from the cross “Harostar” × “Rouge de Mauves” was used to construct two parental genetic maps and to perform a quantitative trait locus analysis of resistance to X. arboricola pv. pruni. A population of 101 F1 individuals was inoculated twice for two consecutive years in a quarantine greenhouse with a mixture of bacterial strains, and disease incidence and resistance index data were collected. A major QTL for disease incidence and resistance index accounting respectively for 53 % (LOD score of 15.43) and 46 % (LOD score of 12.26) of the phenotypic variation was identified at the same position on linkage group 5 of “Rouge de Mauves.” Microsatellite marker UDAp-452 co-segregated with the resistance, and two flanking microsatellites, namely BPPCT037 and BPPCT038A, were identified. When dividing the population according to the alleles of UDAp-452, the subgroup with unfavorable allele had a disease incidence of 32.6 % whereas the group with favorable allele had a disease incidence of 21 %, leading to a reduction of 35.6 % in disease incidence. This study is a first step towards the marker-assisted breeding of new apricot varieties with an increased tolerance to X. arboricola pv. pruni

Novel insights into the genomic basis of citrus canker based on the genome sequences of two strains of Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. aurantifolii

Background: Citrus canker is a disease that has severe economic impact on the citrus industry worldwide. There are three types of canker, called A, B, and C. The three types have different phenotypes and affect different citrus species. The causative agent for type A is Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri, whose genome sequence was made available in 2002. Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. aurantifolii strain B causes canker B and Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. aurantifolii strain C causes canker C. Results: We have sequenced the genomes of strains B and C to draft status. We have compared their genomic content to X. citri subsp. citri and to other Xanthomonas genomes, with special emphasis on type III secreted effector repertoires. In addition to pthA, already known to be present in all three citrus canker strains, two additional effector genes, xopE3 and xopAI, are also present in all three strains and are both located on the same putative genomic island. These two effector genes, along with one other effector-like gene in the same region, are thus good candidates for being pathogenicity factors on citrus. Numerous gene content differences also exist between the three cankers strains, which can be correlated with their different virulence and host range. Particular attention was placed on the analysis of genes involved in biofilm formation and quorum sensing, type IV secretion, flagellum synthesis and motility, lipopolysacharide synthesis, and on the gene xacPNP, which codes for a natriuretic protein. Conclusion: We have uncovered numerous commonalities and differences in gene content between the genomes of the pathogenic agents causing citrus canker A, B, and C and other Xanthomonas genomes. Molecular genetics can now be employed to determine the role of these genes in plant-microbe interactions. The gained knowledge will be instrumental for improving citrus canker control.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientIfico e Tecnologico (CNPq)Coordenacao para Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (CAPES)Fundo de Defesa da Citricultura (FUNDECITRUS

The Complete Genome Sequence of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’, the Bacterium Associated with Potato Zebra Chip Disease

Zebra Chip (ZC) is an emerging plant disease that causes aboveground decline of potato shoots and generally results in unusable tubers. This disease has led to multi-million dollar losses for growers in the central and western United States over the past decade and impacts the livelihood of potato farmers in Mexico and New Zealand. ZC is associated with ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’, a fastidious alpha-proteobacterium that is transmitted by a phloem-feeding psyllid vector, Bactericera cockerelli Sulc. Research on this disease has been hampered by a lack of robust culture methods and paucity of genome sequence information for ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’. Here we present the sequence of the 1.26 Mbp metagenome of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’, based on DNA isolated from potato psyllids. The coding inventory of the ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ genome was analyzed and compared to related Rhizobiaceae to better understand ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ physiology and identify potential targets to develop improved treatment strategies. This analysis revealed a number of unique transporters and pathways, all potentially contributing to ZC pathogenesis. Some of these factors may have been acquired through horizontal gene transfer. Taxonomically, ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ is related to ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’, a suspected causative agent of citrus huanglongbing, yet many genome rearrangements and several gene gains/losses are evident when comparing these two Liberibacter. species. Relative to ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’, ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ probably has reduced capacity for nucleic acid modification, increased amino acid and vitamin biosynthesis functionalities, and gained a high-affinity iron transport system characteristic of several pathogenic microbes

Improving Therapy Methods for Citrus Germplasm Exchange

Movement of citrus germplasm between citrus-growing countries carries the risk of inadvertent spread of serious virus and viruslike pathogens. Current procedures have not been well tested for all pathogens, or are not completely efficient. The exclusion of the two pathovars of Xanthomonas campestris causing citrus canker and citrus bacterial spot, the greening pathogen, severe isolates of citrus tristeza virus (CTV) and citrus tatterleaf virus (TLV) was studied using a tissue culture quarantine methodology. Infected budsticks were cultured in vitro at 32 C. Shoot tips excised from sprouting buds were grafted in vitro to axenically grown seedlings of Troyer citrange. The citrus canker and the greening pathogens were consistently eliminated, even by grafting large shoot tips of 0.5-0.7 mm. Severe strains of CTV were consistently eliminated only by the use of small shoot tips of 0.15-0.2 mm. TLV was difficult to eliminate, but 42% of the plants propagated from shoot tips with three-leaf primordia were TLV-free. Shoot-tip grafting eliminated greening and CTV from chronically infected plants from Africa and Asia. Severe CTV isolates from Africa, Asia, South America, and North America were also eliminated easily. One isolate of naturally-spreading psorosis from Argentina was also eliminated