Influence of amylovoran production on virulence of Erwinia amylovora and a different amylovoran structure in E. amylovora isolates from Rubus

The amylovoran structures of five Erwinia amylovora isolates from Malaceae sp. and four isolates from Rubus sp. host plants were fully established, mainly by NMR. The structural data on one E. amylovora isolate from a Malaceae sp. host, which had been previously suggested by mass and NMR (Nimtz et al., 1996), were completed. E. amylovora strains infective on Malaceae sp. host plants had an amylovoran composed of pentasaccharide and 30–40% hexasaccharide repeating-substructures, whereas amylovoran from E. amylovora isolates from Rubus sp. host plants had only the pentasaccharide substructures. On the other hand, the exopolysaccharide (EPS) production differed in wild-type E. amylovora strains. Data on in vitro amylovoran production per cell could account for the differences in aggressiveness found in E. amylovora strains, as deduced from a pilot test with highly, moderately, and weakly aggressive strains. This correlation was confirmed with several other wild-type E. amylovora strains from different origin.     

Characterization of Erwinia amylovora Strains from Croatia

Erwinia amylovora is the causative agent of fire blight, a destructive disease of rosaceous plants. The European population can be divided into several subtypes according to differences in restriction fragment length polymorphism of the XbaI genomic DNA digest analysed with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. This technique was also used to determine the genetic relatedness of six Croatian isolates to the E. amylovora types found in the countries surrounding Croatia. The isolates belong to the Pt2 pattern type that is characteristic of the East Mediterranean basin. All tested isolates gave essentially the same total cell protein pattern in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The number of short-sequence DNA repeats in plasmid pEA29 of six isolates was determined by PCR assays and ranged from four to seven. The isolates examined showed high pathogenicity in immature pear fruits. Differences were also revealed in microbiological assays such as amylovoran synthesis, levan formation, siderophore production and colour on coliform medium.     

Identification of a nonpathogenic Erwinia amylovora guaB mutant

A nonpathogenic Erwinia amylovora transposon mutant that has an insertion in the gua B gene was isolated. The mutation results in a nutritional requirement for guanine or xanthine, and loss of ability to produce ooze on immature pear fruit and to cause symptoms in the apple seedling assay. The mutant expressed other known virulence determinants including extracellular polysaccharide and had an intact hrp/dsp cluster. In addition it was able to grow in host tissue, although the population size in planta was maintained at a considerably lower level than that seen with the parent strain. The inability of the Erwinia amylovora gua B mutant to cause disease indicates that levels of guanine in plant tissue are likely to be insufficient to maintain optimal growth via the purine salvage pathway. This, in turn, appears to compromise the ability of the mutant to develop a sufficiently large population size in planta to overcome host defence mechanisms and cause disease symptoms. This indicates that a functional de novo guanine synthetic pathway is important for Erwinia amylovora to grow on plant tissue and cause disease.     

Erwinia pyrifoliae, an Erwinia species different from Erwinia amylovora, causes a necrotic disease of Asian pear trees

Bacteria from necrotic branches of Asian pear trees ( Pyrus pyrifolia ) in Korea were consistently isolated as white colonies on nutrient agar and formed mucoid, slightly yellow colonies on a minimal medium with copper sulphate. Isolates with this colony morphology were studied in a series of microbiological, molecular and pathological tests. Most isolates allowed the verification of Koch's postulate on P. pyrifolia seedlings and on slices from immature pear ( Pyrus communis ) fruits and were also positive in hypersensitivity tests on tobacco leaves. They showed characteristics common to species in the genus Erwinia , but were different from Erwinia amylovora , the agent of fire blight. A relationship between the novel pathogen and E. amylovora was found in microbiological and serological tests. Both organisms had similar but not identical protein patterns in 2-D gel electrophoresis, and in growth morphology the new pathogen produced colonies on MM2 Cu medium that were mucoid and slightly yellow, compared with the clearly yellow colonies of E. amylovora . No similarity was found in the plasmid profiles, and consequently no PCR signal was obtained with primers from the E. amylovora plasmid pEA29. REP-PCR also produced bands differing for the two organisms.     

梨火疫病菌噬菌体的初步研究

为找到梨火疫病菌适度专化性的噬菌体，用于该病的检测和鉴定，从英国病山楂枝条上分离到一株噬菌体，测定了其寄主范围、潜育期、繁殖量等，还观察了其形态。分离到的噬菌体为高度专化性噬菌体，不能单位用于梨火疫病菌的检测和鉴定，可与其他梨火疫病菌噬菌体株系配合使用。     

梨火疫病菌的实时荧光PCR检测

 根据梨火疫病菌16S~23S间的ITS保守序列,设计并合成了一对特异性引物REA/FEA,应用荧光染料SYBR Green I,对10个梨火疫的菌株和其它相关参试菌株进行了检测。结果表明,10个梨火疫菌株都产生荧光信号而其它参试菌株都不产生荧光信号,成功建立了梨火疫病菌的实时荧光PCR检测方法。整个检测过程只需3h,完全闭管,降低了污染的机会,无需PCR后处理。检测的灵敏度是4个菌体细胞,比常规PCR电泳检测提高了10倍。用该特异性引物对梨枝条浸泡液进行实时荧光PCR检测,结果可特异性检测到目标菌的存在,并且检测的灵敏度是24个菌体细胞,比常规PCR电泳检测提高10倍。     

Antibiosis and acidification by Pantoea agglomerans strain E325 may contribute to suppression of Erwinia amylovora

Pantoea agglomerans strain E325, a commercially available antagonist for fire blight of apple and pear, was originally selected through screening based on suppression of Erwinia amylovora on flower stigmas, but specific mechanisms of antagonism were unknown. Bacterial modification of pH was evaluated as a possible mechanism by analyzing stigma exudates extracted from 'Gala' apple stigmas. The pH values for field samples were only slightly lower than controls, but indicated a range (pH 5 to 6) conducive for antibiotic activity according to subsequent assays. Under low-phosphate and low-pH conditions, an antibacterial product of E325 with high specificity to E. amylovora was effective at low concentrations. A minimum of 20 to 40 ng of a ninhydrin-reactive compound purified using RP-HPLC caused visible inhibition in assays. Activity was heat stable and unaffected by amino acids, iron, or enzymes known to affect antibiotics of P. agglomerans. Antibiosis was diminished, however, under basic conditions, and with increasing phosphate concentrations at pH 6 and 7. Inhibition was not observed in media containing phosphate concentrations commonly used in antibiosis assays. We propose that E325 suppresses the fire blight pathogen not only by competing for nutrients on the stigma, but by producing an antibiotic specific to E. amylovora. Further work is necessary to substantiate that the compound is produced and active on flower stigmas.     

Characterization of the RcsC sensor kinase from Erwinia amylovora and other Enterobacteria

RcsC is a hybrid sensor kinase which contains a sensor domain, a histidine kinase domain, and a receiver domain. We have previously demonstrated that, although the Erwinia amylovora rcsC mutant produces more amylovoran than the wild-type (WT) strain in vitro, the mutant remains nonpathogenic on both immature pear fruit and apple plants. In this study, we have comparatively characterized the Erwinia RcsC and its homologs from various enterobacteria. Results demonstrate that expression of the Erwinia rcsC gene suppresses amylovoran production in various amylovoran overproducing WT and mutant strains, thus suggesting the presence of a net phosphatase activity of Erwinia RcsC. Findings have also demonstrated that rcsC homologs from other enterobacteria could not rescue amylovoran production of the Erwinia rcsC mutant in vitro. However, virulence of the Erwinia rcsC mutant is partially restored by rcsC homologs from Pantoea stewartii, Yersinia pestis, and Salmonella enterica but not from Escherichia coli on apple shoots. Domain-swapping experiments have indicated that replacement of the E. coli RcsC sensor domain by those of Erwinia and Yersinia spp. partially restores virulence of the Erwinia rcsC mutant, whereas chimeric constructs containing the sensor domain of E. coli RcsC could not rescue virulence of the Erwinia rcsC mutant on apple. Interestingly, only chimeric constructs containing the histidine kinase and receiver domains of Erwinia RcsC are fully capable of rescuing amylovoran production. These results suggest that the sensor domain of RcsC may be important in regulating bacterial virulence, whereas the activity of the histidine kinase and receiver domains of Erwinia RcsC may be essential for amylovoran production in vitro.     

Occurrence of Erwinia amylovora on pear in Albania

Pear trees were observed in the province of Durres (AL) with typical symptoms of fireblight on the shoots, fruit and branches. Bacteriological analysis of samples of diseased material confirmed the presence of Erwinia amylovora. The isolates were identified on the basis of phenotypical and pathogenic characteristics. The total protein electrophoretic profiles of the Albanian isolates were indistinguishable from those of the strain found in the Po valley (IT).     

Antibiosis activity of Pantoea agglomerans biocontrol strain E325 against Erwinia amylovora on apple flower stigmas

Pantoea agglomerans E325, the active ingredient in a commercial product for fire blight control, was previously shown in vitro to produce a unique alkaline- and phosphate-sensitive antibiotic specific to Erwinia amylovora. Antibiosis was evaluated as a mode of antagonism on flower stigmas using two antibiosis-deficient mutants. On King's medium B, mutants E325ad1 and E325ad2 have stable smooth-butyrous or hypermucoid colony morphologies, respectively, and the parental strain E325 exhibits phenotypic plasticity with predominantly hypermucoid colonies accompanied by slower-growing, smooth-butyrous colonies. Mutants were tested against E. amylovora on stigmas of detached flowers of crab apple (Malus mandshurica) in growth chambers and apple (Malus domestica) in the orchard. Epiphytic fitness of the antibiosis-negative mutants was similar or greater than the parental strain as determined by relative area under the population curve (RAUPC). In laboratory and orchard trials, both mutants had significantly lower inhibitory activity against the pathogen (i.e., less reduction of E. amylovora RAUPC) compared with the parental strain. E325 and the mutants caused similar decreases in pH in a broth medium, indicating that acidification, which was previously reported as a possible mechanism of pathogen inhibition on stigmas, is not directly related to antibiosis. In this study we provide the first evidence for E325 antibiosis involved in E. amylovora growth suppression on apple flower stigmas.     

Incidence of bacteria inhibitory to Erwinia amylovora from blossoms in New Zealand apple orchards

Populations of total bacteria and Erwinia herbicola were monitored on apple blossom in selected orchards at two different geographical regions in New Zealand (Canterbury and Hawke's Bay). In all four orchards surveyed E. herbicola populations remained negligible (less than 50cfu/blossom) throughout flowering, increasing rapidly at petal drop to reach levels of 1 × 10³ cfu/blossom (Hawke's Bay) to 1 × 10⁵ cfu/blossom (Canterbury). Total bacterial populations increased 100-fold at petal drop in both locations. Pseudomonas populations were predominant in Canterbury throughout all flowering stages and in Hawkes Bay after early flowering. When screened for inhibitory activity to E. amylovora , 26% of all isolates from Canterbury showed some inhibition in vitro , but none of the isolates from Hawke's Bay showed inhibition of E. amylovora in vitro. Two Canterbury isolates with strong in vitro inhibitory activity also inhibited E. amylovora in immature pear fruit. One isolate was identified as E. herbicola and one isolate as Pseudomonas fluorescens.     

Production d'anticorps monoclonaux de rat spécifiques àErwinia amylovora1

Cent quatre-vingts hybridomes sécrétant des anticorps monoclonaux dirigés contre Erwinia amylovora ont été produits en fusionnant des cellules myélomateuses IR983F avec des lymphoblastes B immuns issus de la rate ou des ganglions poplités de rats LOU/C immunisés contre cette bactérie. Parmi ces hybridomes, trois lignées cellulaires ont été sélectionnées car elles produisaient un anticorps monoclonal réagissant uniquement vis-à-vis d'E. amylovora. Les trois anticorps monoclonaux purifiés du liquide d'ascite réagissaient, par ELISA et par immunofluorescence, vis-à-vis de 93 souches différentes d'E. amylovora. Ces anticorps monoclonaux ne réagissaient ni avec d'autres espèces d'Erwinia, ni avec des espèces de Pseudomonas, de Xanthomonas et d'Enterobacter. Par ailleurs, l'un de ces anticorps monoclonaux a été testé, avec succès, par ELISA en utilisant comme antigène les surnageants de culture liquide de 91 souches d'E. amylovora. Par contre, les surnageants des cultures liquides inoculées avec 88 souches d'espèces différentes n'ont pas montré de réaction vis-à-vis de cet anticorps monoclonal. Il peut donc être utilisé comme réactif dans les tests d'identification spécifique de l'agent phytopathogène du feu bactérien.     

梨火疫病的分布,传播及检测技术研究进展

本文介绍了梨火疫病的危害,传播及目前世界分布;讨论了各种植物材料和包装物传病的危害性,评价了包括传统的和分子生物学方法在内的梨火疫病菌的各种检测方法及该病对我国的潜在威胁,为对该病的检疫检测提供理论依据。     

Analysis of Aggressiveness of Erwinia amylovora Using Disease-Dose and Time Relationships

ABSTRACT The aggressiveness of an extensive collection of strains of Erwinia amylovora was analyzed using immature fruit and detached pear flower assays under controlled environmental conditions. The analysis was performed by means of a quantitative approach based on fitting data to mathematical models that relate infection incidence to pathogen dose and time. Probit and hyperbolic saturation models were used for disease-dose relationships and provided information on the median effective dose (ED(50)). Values of ED(50) ranged from 10(3) to 10(6) CFU/ml (10 to 10(4) CFU per site of inoculation). A modified Gompertz model was used for disease-time relationships and provided information on the rate of infection incidence progression (r(g)) and time delayed to start of the incidence progress curve (t(0)). Values of r(g) ranged from near 0 to 1.90, and t(0) varied from 1.3 to more than 10 days. The more aggressive strains showed high r(g), low ED(50) values, and short t(0), whereas the less aggressive strains showed low r(g), high ED(50), and long t (0). The aggressiveness was dependent on plant material type and pear cultivars and was significantly different between strains of E. amylovora. Infectivity titration and kinetic analysis of progression of incidence of infections using the immature pear test and a standardized scale are proposed for assessment of strain aggressiveness. The implications of r(g), ED(50), and t(0) for the epidemiology and management of fire blight are discussed, particularly the wide range of aggressiveness among strains, the degree of host specificity observed in pear isolates, the very high infective potential of this pathogen, the independent action of pathogen cells during infection, and the possible advantage of including aggressiveness parameters into fire blight risk forecasting systems.     

梨火疫病菌拮抗细菌FX1培养基及摇瓶发酵条件优化

贝莱斯芽胞杆菌Bacillus velezensis FX1是从新疆库尔勒香梨生产区果蔬天然酵素发酵液中分离筛选出的对梨火疫病菌Erwinia amylovora具有较强拮抗作用的菌株。为提高其抑菌活性物质的产量和防病效果,本研究以平板抑菌活性和发酵液活菌浓度作为检测指标,采用单因素试验、Plackett-Burman试验和响应曲面法对培养基成分(碳源、氮源、无机盐)及摇瓶发酵条件(温度、转速以及初始pH)进行筛选和优化,确定FX1菌株的最适培养基和发酵条件。结果表明,FX1的最适培养基为：玉米淀粉10.0 g/L,酵母膏25.1 g/L,KH₂PO₄ 0.5 g/L,MnSO₄ 0.001 g/L;最适发酵条件为初始pH 7.0,转速150 r/min,温度30.9℃,装液量100 m L/500 m L,培养时间48 h。优化后FX1菌株活菌数可达1.53×10⁹ CFU/mL,抑菌圈直径可达26.6 mm,相比优化前分别增加了3.10倍和1.32倍。苹果离体花序的防效试验结果显示,喷施FX1菌...     

Necrotrophic behaviour of Erwinia amylovora in apple and tobacco leaf tissue

An important issue related to the epidemiology of fire blight, a devastating disease of apples and pears, is how its causal agent, the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, survives and disseminates in the environment. Almost no information is available on the possibility of this pathogen overwintering as a necrotroph. In this study, bacterial survival in dead apple and tobacco (a non‐host) leaf tissues was addressed. In necrotized leaves collected 5, 6, 7 and 8 months following shoot inoculation of apple trees, viable E. amylovora cells were present in over 50% of samples from the midrib and in over 10% of samples from lateral veins, but were never found in parenchyma. Using a PCR‐based method, pathogen DNA was detected in more than 50% of samples that were found to be free of viable cells by conventional plating out. However, PCR analysis was insufficient to distinguish between the DNA of viable and dead bacteria. Sugars appropriate for bacterial growth were found in dead apple leaves. In spot‐inoculated attached apple and tobacco leaves, a remarkable increase in the bacterial population was observed in lesions that developed as a hypersensitive response (HR). As in other necrotrophic interactions, bacterial proliferation was associated with massive hydrogen peroxide production and progression toward plant cell death. The results indicate that E. amylovora has an ability to survive as a semi‐necrotroph or necrotroph, which allows for overwintering in dead apple leaves.     

Establishment of Bacterial Antagonists of Erwinia amylovora on Pear and Apple Blossoms as Influenced by Inoculum Preparation

The influence of inoculum preparation on the establishment of bacterial antagonists that suppress fire blight and Erwinia amylovora on blossoms was evaluated. Aqueous suspensions of Pseudomonas fluorescens A506, E. herbicola C9-1R, or E. amylovora 153N were prepared from cells harvested from the surface of an agar medium or from cells that were lyophilized after culture under similar conditions. Bacterial suspensions (1 x 10(8) CFU/ml) were sprayed on pear and apple trees at 50% bloom near midday. The incidence of recovery (proportion of blossoms containing detectable populations) and the population sizes of the bacteria on individual blossoms with detectable populations were followed over a period of several days. Fluorescent microspheres (1 mum in diameter) were added to sprays at a concentration of 1 x 10(7) microspheres per ml to mark blossoms that were open during application of bacteria. After dilution-plating, the stigmas and styles of each blossom were examined for the presence of microspheres with an epifluorescence microscope. In three of five trials, bacteria applied as suspensions of lyophilized cells were recovered from a greater proportion of blossoms than bacterial cells harvested directly from culture media. Every blossom harvested within 6 days after spraying had microspheres present on the surfaces of the styles and stigmas; thus, lack of establishment of detectable populations, rather than escape of blossoms from spray inoculation, accounted for the differences in proportion of blossoms colonized by the different preparations of bacteria. The use of lyophilized cells in field trials decreased variability in the establishment of bacteria on blossoms.