Populations of Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae from asymptomatic mango leaves are primarily endophytic

Culturable endophytic bacteria of Camellia species endowed with plant growth promoting characteristics

AIM

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is an economically important caffeine-containing beverage crop with massive plantation in the Northeast corner of the agroclimatic belt of India. The main aim of the work was to isolate, identify and characterize the native plant growth promoting endophytes associated with tea for future microbe based bioformulation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A total of 129 endophytic bacteria were isolated and characterized for plant growth promoting traits such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), phosphate solubilization, ammonia production, biocontrol traits like siderophore and extracellular enzyme production. BOX-PCR fingerprinting was used to differentiate the various bacterial isolates obtained from six different tea species. 16S rRNA sequencing and blast analysis showed that these isolates belonged to different genera, that is, Bacillus, Brevibacterium, Paenibacillus and Lysinibacillus. Lysinibacillus sp. S24 showed the highest phosphate solubilization and IAA acid production efficiency of 268·4 ± 14·3 and 13·5 ± 0·5 µg ml^-1 , respectively. Brevibacterium sp. S91 showed the highest ammonia production of 6·2 ± 0·5 µmol ml^-1 . Chitinase, cellulase, protease and pectinase activities were shown by 4·6, 34·1, 27·13 and 13·14% of the total isolates, respectively. Similarly, 41% of the total isolates were positive for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity. Further, the potent PGP isolates, S24 and S91 were able to enhance the vegetative parameters such as dry/fresh weight of root and shoot of tea plants in nursery conditions.

CONCLUSION

Our findings corroborate that tea endophytic bacteria possess the potential to demonstrate multiple PGP traits both, in vivo and in vitro and have the potential for further large-scale trials.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The exploration of tea endophytic bacterial community is suitable for the development of bioformulations for an integrated nutrient management and thus sustainable crop production and decreasing the hazardous effects of chemical fertilizers on the environment and human health.

Insertion sequence- and tandem repeat-based genotyping techniques for Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae

Molecular fingerprinting techniques that have the potential to identify or subtype bacteria at the strain level are needed for improving diagnosis and understanding of the epidemiology of pathogens such as Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae, which causes mango bacterial canker disease. We developed a ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction targeting the IS1595 insertion sequence as a means to differentiate pv. mangiferaeindicae from the closely related pv. anacardii (responsible for cashew bacterial spot), which has the potential to infect mango but not to cause significant disease. This technique produced weakly polymorphic fingerprints composed of ≈70 amplified fragments per strain for a worldwide collection of X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae but produced no or very weak amplification for pv. anacardii strains. Together, 12 tandem repeat markers were able to subtype X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae at the strain level, distinguishing 231 haplotypes from a worldwide collection of 299 strains. Multilocus variable number of tandem repeats analysis (MLVA), IS1595-ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction, and amplified fragment length polymorphism showed differences in discriminatory power and were congruent in describing the diversity of this strain collection, suggesting low levels of recombination. The potential of the MLVA scheme for molecular epidemiology studies of X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae is discussed.

Adhesion and fitness in the bean phyllosphere and transmission to seed of Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. fuscans

Deciphering the mechanisms enabling plant-pathogenic bacteria to disperse, colonize, and survive on their hosts provides the necessary basis to set up new control methods. We evaluated the role of bacterial attachment and biofilm formation in host colonization processes for Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. fuscans on its host. This bacterium is responsible for the common bacterial blight of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), a seedborne disease. The five adhesin genes (pilA, fhab, xadA1, xadA2, and yapH) identified in X. fuscans subsp. fuscans CFBP4834-R strain were mutated. All mutants were altered in their abilities to adhere to polypropylene or seed. PilA was involved in adhesion and transmission to seed, and mutation of pilA led to lower pathogenicity on bean. YapH was required for adhesion to seed, leaves, and abiotic surfaces but not for in planta transmission to seed or aggressiveness on leaves. Transmission to seed through floral structures did not require any of the known adhesins. Conversely, all mutants tested, except in yapH, were altered in their vascular transmission to seed. In conclusion, we showed that adhesins are implicated in the various processes leading to host phyllosphere colonization and transmission to seed by plant-pathogenic bacteria.