Disease progression of a lethal decline caused by the 16SrIV‐D phytoplasma in Florida palms

Recently, a new phytoplasma was discovered in Hillsborough County in the state of Florida, USA. This phytoplasma belongs to the 16SrIV taxonomic group and is classified as subgroup D. It is the causal agent of lethal bronzing disease (LBD) of palm. Since the discovery of LBD in 2006, the disease has spread throughout much of the state. In 2014 and 2015, stands of cabbage palm and queen palms that had been present at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center in Davie, FL began showing symptoms of LBD. After confirming the presence of the LBD phytoplasma in initially infected palms by nested PCR and RFLP analysis, all palms were systematically sampled over the period of 1 year to monitor and quantify disease spread. A total of 30 cabbage palms were tested monthly by qPCR, with five testing positive on the first sample date. By the end of the study period, 16 cabbage palms had died from the infection. A total of 16 queen palms were surveyed, with three palms initially testing positive. By the end of the study, four queen palms had tested positive and died from the infection. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to document and quantify spread of palm‐infecting phytoplasmas. This data provides important insights into the ecology of palm‐infecting phytoplasmas and highlights the impact that the movement of infective insects can pose to established stands of palms.     

利用酵母双杂交膜系统筛选与小麦蓝矮植原体免疫膜蛋白互作的异沙叶蝉蛋白

正小麦蓝矮病(Wheat blue dwarf,WBD)是我国西北麦区一种重要植原体病害,在我国西部地区危害严重。该病害由异沙叶蝉(Psammotettix alienus L.)专化性传播,介体传毒成为病害流行的重要中心环节[1]。本实验室前期通过免疫荧光标记研究发现WBD植原体免疫膜蛋白(immunodominant membrane protein, IMP)与介体异沙叶蝉肌动蛋白互作,说明IMP在植原体传播和致病过程中起关键作用。     

枣AP2/ERF转录因子鉴定及其响应枣疯病植原体表达分析

利用生物信息学方法，从植物转录因子数据库和NCBI数据库中分别得到175和164个候选的枣AP2/ERF转录因子序列，使用DNAMAN软件进行序列比对、去除重复序列，采用SMART软件预测蛋白结构域发现，枣基因组中包含有145个AP2/ERF基因，其中ERF、AP2、RAV亚家族分别含有116个、23个、5个，另有1个独立基因。预测枣AP2/ERF转录因子氨基酸数量在111 ~ 692之间，分子量在12 446.87 ~ 76 154.10之间，pI在4.31 ~ 10.11之间。鉴定出的145个AP2/ERF转录因子，105个分别定位到12条染色体上，40个未能定位。在此基础上，利用嫁接病芽方法将枣疯病植原体转至健康枣植株，通过转录组测序和qRT-PCR手段，分析了AP2/ERF转录因子对枣植原体侵染的响应，在植原体侵染枣的6个不同时期，枣AP2/ERF表达数量和表达量均不相同，共有48个差异表达基因，其中ZjAP2*9、ZjERF49和ZjERF91是响应枣疯病植原体最为重要的AP2/ERF转录因子。     

New natural host plants of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pini’ in Poland and the Czech Republic

The presence of phytoplasmas in seven coniferous plant species (Abies procera, Pinus banksiana, P. mugo, P. nigra, P. sylvestris, P. tabuliformis and Tsuga canadensis) was demonstrated using nested PCR with the primer pairs P1/P7 followed by R16F2n/R16R2. The phytoplasmas were detected in pine trees with witches’ broom symptoms growing in natural forest ecosystems and also in plants propagated from witches’ brooms. Identification of phytoplasmas was done using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP) of the 16S rDNA gene fragment with AluI, MseI and RsaI endonucleases. All samples showed RFLP patterns similar to the theoretical pattern of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pini’, based on the sequence of the reference isolate Pin127S. Nested PCR‐amplified products, obtained with primers R16F2n/R16R2, were sequenced. Comparison of the 16S rDNAs obtained revealed high (99·8–100%) nucleotide sequence identity between the phytoplasma isolates. The isolates were also closely related to four other phytoplasma isolates found in pine trees previously. Based on the results of RFLP and sequence analyses, the phytoplasma isolates tested were classified as members of the ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pini’, group 16SrXXI.     

泡桐丛枝植原体抗原膜蛋白抗血清的制备及应用

 根据报道的泡桐丛枝植原体(Paulownia witches’-broom phytoplasma,PaWB)抗原膜蛋白(antigenic membrane pro-tein,AMP)基因的核苷酸序列设计引物,提取发病泡桐总DNA,经PCR扩增并成功克隆泡桐丛枝植原体amp基因。序列分析表明,amp基因由696个核苷酸组成,编码231个氨基酸残基,与GenBank中登录的2个泡桐丛枝植原体的膜蛋白核苷酸序列同源性为100%。将amp基因91-604 nt部分序列(命名为ampd)克隆到原核表达载体pGEX-4T-3,诱导后,经SDS聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分析,表明融合蛋白在大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中得到了高效表达。以纯化的带GST标签的AMPD融合蛋白为抗原免疫德国大白兔,制备了PaWB-AMPD抗血清。利用该血清,通过Western印迹、点印迹、ELISA、间接免疫荧光和免疫捕获PCR试验均能在发病泡桐组织中特异检测到泡桐丛枝植原体。     

Glomus mosseae bioprotection against aster yellows phytoplasma (16srI-B) and Spiroplasma citri infection in Madagascar periwinkle

The bio-control potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae against two pathogenic microorganisms aster yellows (AY) phytoplasma and Spiroplasma citri has been examined in Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus). G. mosseae had a positive influence on healthy C. roseus plants and S. citri infection. It provided bioprotection against S. citri pathogen and induced significant degree of resistance to spiroplasma infection. Besides, symptom expression significantly reduced and shoot height, leaves number, root fresh and dry weight increased in spiroplasma-infected plants treated with mycorrhiza fungus. Although, G. mosseae had no positive effect on phytoplasma disease. The root architectures were affected by the phytoplasma pathogen, and the root surface area dramatically decreased in G. mosseae treated AY-infected periwinkles compared with the control. Nitrogen and Phosphorus concentrations notably increased in spiroplasma + G. mosseae compared with control plants. Potassium concentration did not differ significantly in all mycorrhizal treated and untreated infected plants except in G. mosseae treated healthy plants. The spore density and root colonization rate did not vary in both pathogen treatments G. mosseae + spiroplasma and G. mosseae + phytoplasma. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing the bioprotective effect of G. mosseae on S. citri. The possible mechanisms involved in complex interaction between plants, cell wall-less bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are discussed and the underlying mechanisms for the functioning of AMF are hypothesized.     

植原体基因组学研究进展

植原体（phytoplasma）是一类重要的植物病原细菌, 可经叶蝉、飞虱等昆虫介体传播, 感染1 000多种植物, 产生丛枝、黄化、韧皮部黑斑坏死等症状, 给农业、林业生产带来巨大的损失。本文对植原体基因组学研究的历史、现状及当前植原体效应蛋白等方面的研究进展进行了综述。     

菊花绿变病植原体在中国的发生及分子鉴定

对内蒙古农业大学校园内表现花器绿变症状的菊花样品进行采集和DNA提取,应用植原体16S rRNA基因和rp基因的引物进行巢式PCR扩增,从感病样品中分别扩增得到了长度均约为1.2 kb的片段。序列一致性分析表明,菊花绿变植原体16S rRNA基因与翠菊黄化植原体匈牙利风信子株系(GenBank登录号MN080271)、印度玉米株系(KY565571)、印度繁缕株系(KC623537)和印度马铃薯株系(KC312703)的核酸一致性最高,为99.9%,rp基因序列与翠菊黄化植原体立陶宛洋葱株系(GU228514)的核酸一致性最高,为99.8%。基于16S rRNA基因和rp基因构建系统进化树时发现,菊花绿变植原体均与16SrI-B亚组成员聚为一起。16S rRNA基因相似性系数分析表明,菊花绿变植原体与洋葱黄化植原体(AP006628)的相似性系数最高为1.00,洋葱黄化植原体(AP006628)在分类上属于16SrI-B亚组。因此,我们可以确定该菊花绿变植原体属于16SrI-B亚组。这是我国首次报道菊花绿变病的发生。     

High diversity,expanding populations and purifying selection in phytoplasmas causing coconut lethal yellowing in Mozambique

In this study, the putative phytoplasma species causing coconut lethal yellowing disease in Mozambique and Tanzania were characterized. The 16S rRNA and secA genes were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Mozambican coconut phytoplasmas belong to three different types: ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma palmicola’ 16SrXXII‐A, a second strain that was previously isolated in Tanzania and Kenya (16SrIV‐C), and a third strain that was different from all known lethal yellowing phytoplasma species. The third strain potentially represents a novel species and is closely related to pine phytoplasma. Co‐infection with ‘Ca. Phytoplasma pini’‐related and ‘Ca. Phytoplasma palmicola’ 16SrXXII‐A strains was observed. Furthermore, sequence variation in ‘Ca. Phytoplasma palmicola’ at the population level was consistent with purifying selection and population expansion.