Homolog of FlhDC, a master regulator for flagellum synthesis: required for pathogenicity in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora

 Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora (Ecc) is a causal agent of soft-rot diseases in a wide variety of plants. Here, we have isolated nonmotile mutants in Ecc by in vivo insertional mutagenesis using a transposon Tn5. The sequence disrupted by the Tn5 insertion in YMU1 and YMU5 mutants was highly homologous to that of flhC and flhD genes, respectively. They are involved in the initiation of the expression of flagellum-related genes in many gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella. With electron microscopy, the flhC and the flhD homolog mutants were shown to be aflagellate. Furthermore, the virulence of these mutants was greatly reduced in Chinese cabbage and potato compared to that of the parental strain. These results suggest that flagellar formation is required for the pathogenicity of Ecc. Received: November 5, 2002 / Accepted: December 2, 2002 Acknowledgments This research was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid (12052210) and by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (13073).     

Suppression of wheat-seedling diseases caused by Fusarium culmorum and Microdochium nivale using bacterial seed treatment

Snow mould, caused by Microdochium nivale , and seedling blight caused by members of the Fusarium complex, are cereal diseases of great economic importance in many temperate zones. In a glasshouse bioassay designed to enhance disease, about 600 plant-associated bacterial isolates obtained by different methods were screened for suppressive effects in wheat against infection caused by Fusarium culmorum . Although most of the isolates tested had a neutral effect on test plants and disease development, a few were synergistic to the pathogen and about one-fifth showed > 80% disease suppression. During five consecutive growing seasons, 164 bacterial isolates were tested in field experiments against both F. culmorum and M. nivale as causal agents of seedling blight. Tests for effects on yield in experiments with spring and winter wheat, performed in different climatic regions of Sweden, showed that disease-suppressive effects were repeatable. The most efficient isolates, three fluorescent pseudomonads and a species of Pantoea , suppressed disease equal to that of the fungicide guazatine, both with respect to crop stand and yield. Seed treatment with Pantoea sp. (isolate MF 626) increased yield by an average of more than 500 kg ha⁻¹ in six field experiments.     

Population differentiation in the banana leaf spot pathogen Mycosphaerella musicola, examined at a global scale

Single-copy restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers were used to determine the genetic structure of the global population of Mycosphaerella musicola , the cause of Sigatoka (yellow Sigatoka) disease of banana. The isolates of M. musicola examined were grouped into four geographic populations representing Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and Indonesia. Moderate levels of genetic diversity were observed for most of the populations ( H  = 0·22–0·44). The greatest genetic diversity was found in the Indonesian population ( H =  0·44). Genotypic diversity was close to 50% in all populations. Population differentiation tests showed that the geographic populations of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and Indonesia were genetically different populations. Using F _ST tests, very high levels of genetic differentiation were detected between all the population pairs ( F _ST > 0·40), with the exception of the Africa and Latin America-Caribbean population pair. These two populations differed by only 3% ( F _ST = 0·03), and were significantly different ( P  < 0·05) from all other population pairs. The high level of genetic diversity detected in Indonesia in comparison to the other populations provides some support for the theory that M. musicola originated in South-east Asia and that M. musicola populations in other regions were founded by isolates from the South-east Asian region. The results also suggest the migration of M. musicola between Africa and the Latin America-Caribbean region.     

入侵种西花蓟马与本地近缘种花蓟马的双基因鉴定

快速准确的害虫种类识别是有效筛选天敌昆虫开展靶向性生物防控的关键。入侵种西花蓟马Frankliniella occidentalis与本地种花蓟马F.intonsa常同域同期同种寄主上发生,因体型小、形态相似,难以快速准确鉴定。本研究以mt DNA COI与r DNA ITS2基因为标记对我国10个采样点的西花蓟马和花蓟马开展分子鉴定研究。结果显示,当以COI或ITS2基因为靶标时,西花蓟马与花蓟马间的平均遗传距离分别为0.221和0.113,是种内遗传距离的22.1和18.8倍,且种内、种间遗传距离间无重叠,并在系统发育树上聚为独立的分支,表明2种基因均可准确区分西花蓟马和花蓟马。此外,基于COI基因构建的系统发育树,西花蓟马的各单倍型聚为了2个亚分支,并分别对应温室品系和羽扇豆品系,表明COI基因还可用于西花蓟马品系的识别鉴定。研究结果对近缘种花蓟马的快速鉴定、专食性天敌昆虫的筛选,及其生防效果评价具有重要意义。     

黄瓜细菌性角斑病菌交叉引物恒温扩增检测技术

黄瓜细菌性角斑病是我国黄瓜生产上的重要病害之一,其病原菌为Pseudomonas syringae pv.lachrymans。根据该病原菌甘油醛-3-磷酸脱氢基因保守序列设计引物和探针,建立了交叉引物恒温扩增和核酸试纸条检测技术。菌体DNA检测灵敏度可达0.55 ng,纯菌直接检测灵敏度基本可达到单个细菌。所测试的5株黄瓜细菌性角斑病菌和染病黄瓜叶片均为阳性,其他13株对照菌株均为阴性。该方法灵敏度高,且操作简单,对设备要求低等,适合基层实验室应用。     

Factors affecting the virulence of Ralstonia solanacearum and its colonization on tobacco roots

Tobacco bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a serious disease affecting tobacco cultivation in southwest China. The response surface methodology was employed to evaluate the optimal conditions of tobacco bacterial wilt, and green fluorescent protein gene (gfp) labelling was applied to monitor the location and survival dynamics of R. solanacearum (Rs::gfp) on tobacco roots and in soil under these optimal conditions. The results showed that the highest wilt incidence was 91.13%, which occurred when the population reached 6.6 × 10⁶ CFU/g soil, the temperature was 30.55 °C, and the humidity was >81.42%. The Rs::gfp densely colonized the root tips and root hairs, and cells of Rs::gfp were observed intermittently in the elongation zone or at the point of the emerging lateral roots. The Rs::gfp number in the rhizosphere soil was 10.75‐, 73.13‐ and 74.86‐times higher than that in the bulk soil at 10, 15 and 20 days after transplantation, respectively. Increased colonization by Rs::gfp was related to the population of the pathogen, the environmental temperature and the humidity in the soil. These three conditions determined whether R. solanacearum would induce tobacco wilt. This is the first study to investigate factors affecting the virulence of a tobacco wilt bacterial pathogen, which is important for conducting field diagnosis and biocontrol of tobacco bacterial wilt.     

EPPO新增A1类检疫性有害生物——Xanthomonas axonopodis pv.allii

Xanthomonas axonopodis pv.allii 主要引起洋葱细菌性叶枯病,是EPPO新增加的A1类有害生物.本文对该菌的分布、寄主、症状、病原、发生规律、传播途径、检测鉴定、防治方法等方面进行了综述.     

漳州琯溪蜜柚果实黑斑病菌的分子鉴定

2008年从漳州采集到疑似由柑橘球座菌(Guignardia citricarpaKiely)引起的黑斑病症状的溪琯蜜柚(Citrus grandis(Linn.)Osbeck cv.guanxi-miyou)果实。使用柑橘球座菌(G.citricarpa)特异引物对该果实上的病斑进行PCR检测及序列分析。PCR检测结果表明从溪琯蜜柚果实病斑上扩增到约490bp的条带。序列分析结果表明,与已知的亚洲柑橘叶点霉(Phyllosticta citriasiana)、G.citricarpa和G.mangif-erae的相应序列同源性分别为99.8%、98.2%和94.0%。该序列含有部分的内转录间隔区1(ITS1)、5.8S核糖体RNA基因(5.8S rRNA)和部分的内转录间隔区2(ITS2)序列。结果表明,引起溪琯蜜柚果实病害的病原菌并不是G.citricarpa,而是一种新描述的病原菌——亚洲柑橘叶点霉(Phyllosticta citriasianaWulan-dari,Crous&Gruyter),该病原菌引起的病害称为柑橘褐斑病。     

Two Types of Grapevine Yellow Speckle Viroid 1 Isolated from Commercial Grapevine Had the Nucleotide Sequence of Yellow Speckle Symptom-inducing Type

Grapevine yellow speckle viroid 1 (GYSVd 1) was first detected in Japan from commercial grapevines. The viroid seems to be spreading in Japanese commercial vineyards but without causing noticeable disease symptoms. Two Japanese GYSVd 1 isolates from the cultivars Campbell and Steuben were sequenced. The Campbell isolate is included in the type 2 variant of GYSVd 1, and the Steuben isolate is included in the type 3. Both of the isolates were grouped into the yellow speckle-inducing variants in the nucleotide sequence ; however, the etiological importance of this viroid on the viticulture of Japan has not yet been determined. Received 14 June 1999/ Accepted in revised form 25 August 1999     

Molecular and Pathogenicity Characteristics of Phytophthora nicotianae Responsible for Root Necrosis and Wilting of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in Tunisia

Isolates of Phytophthora from pepper, produced in Tunisia, were characterised according to molecular and pathogenicity criteria. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of the ITS1 region in the ribosomal DNA resulted in different sized fragments. The pepper isolates and P. nicotianae yielded a fragment of 310bp that distinguished it from P. capsici with a fragment of 270bp. The ribosomal RNA gene amplicons of both internal transcribed spacers and the 5.8 S of the pepper Phytophthora and P. nicotianae were digested with 8 endonucleases. The patterns generated, with the 2 enzymes that cut, were identical for both taxa. This molecular analysis corroborated the morphological and biological characteristics and suggests strongly that the isolates of Phytophthora from pepper belong to the species P. nicotianae. Inoculation of pepper, tomato, eggplant and tobacco plants with the isolates of P. nicotianae from pepper showed they were highly pathogenic on pepper but not on tobacco, while their pathogenicity was weak on tomato and eggplant and was associated with atypical symptoms not observed in the field. These pathogenicity tests suggest that pepper isolates of P. nicotianae are particularly adapted to their host and may thus constitute a forma specialis of P. nicotianae.