Publications

4859

Abstract Rickettsiales are obligate intracellular bacteria originally found in metazoans, but more recently recognized as widespread endosymbionts of various protists. One genus was detected also in several green algae, but reports on rickettsialean endosymbionts in other algal groups are lacking. Here we show that several distantly related eustigmatophytes (coccoid algae belonging to Ochrophyta, Stramenopiles) are infected by Candidatus Phycorickettsia gen. nov., a new member of the family Rickettsiaceae. The genome sequence of Ca. Phycorickettsia trachydisci sp. nov., an endosymbiont of Trachydiscus minutus CCALA 838, revealed genomic features (size, GC content, number of genes) typical for other Rickettsiales, but some unusual aspects of the gene content were noted. Specifically, Phycorickettsia lacks genes for several components of the respiration chain, haem biosynthesis pathway, or c-di-GMP-based signalling. On the other hand, it uniquely harbours a six-gene operon of enigmatic function that we recently reported from plastid genomes of two distantly related eustigmatophytes and from various non-rickettsialean bacteria. Strikingly, the eustigmatophyte operon is closely related to the one from Phycorickettsia, suggesting a gene transfer event between the endosymbiont and host lineages in early eustigmatophyte evolution. We hypothesize an important role of the operon in the physiology of Phycorickettsia infection and a long-term eustigmatophyte-Phycorickettsia coexistence.

Carrot yellows disease has been associated for many years with the Gram-positive, insect-vectored bacteria, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ and Spiroplasma citri. However, reports in the last decade also link carrot yellows symptoms with a different, Gram-negative, insect-vectored bacterium, ‘Ca. Liberibacter solanacearum’. Our study shows that to date ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ is tightly associated with carrot yellows symptoms across Israel. The genetic variant found in Israel is most similar to haplotype D, found around the Mediterranean Basin. We further show that the psyllid vector of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’, Bactericera trigonica, is highly abundant in Israel and is an efficient vector for this pathogen. A survey conducted comparing conventional and organic carrot fields showed a marked reduction in psyllid numbers and disease incidence in the field practicing chemical control. Fluorescent in situ hybridization and scanning electron microscopy analyses further support the association of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ with disease symptoms and show that the pathogen is located in phloem sieve elements. Seed transmission experiments revealed that while approximately 30% of the tested carrot seed lots are positive for ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’, disease transmission was not observed. Possible scenarios that may have led to the change in association of the disease etiological agent with carrot yellows are discussed. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

Grapevine yellows diseases occur in cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) on several continents, where the diseases are known by different names depending upon the identities of the causal phytoplasmas. In this study, phytoplasma strains associated with grapevine yellows disease (North American grapevine yellows [NAGY]) in vineyards of Pennsylvania were characterized as belonging to 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene restriction fragment length polymorphism group 16SrI (aster yellows phytoplasma group), subgroup 16SrI-B (I-B), and variant subgroup I-B*. The strains (NAGYI strains) were subjected to genotyping based on analyses of 16S rRNA and secY genes, and to in silico three-dimensional modeling of the SecY protein. Although the NAGYI strains are closely related to aster yellows (AY) phytoplasma strains and are classified like AY strains in subgroup I-B or in variant subgroup I-B*, the results from genotyping and protein modeling may signal ongoing evolutionary divergence of NAGYI strains from related strains in subgroup 16SrI-B.

Abstract BACKGROUND In insects, little is known about the co‐evolution between their primary endosymbionts and hosts at the intraspecific level. This study examined co‐diversification between the notorious agricultural pest Diaphorina citri and its primary endosymbionts (P‐endosymbiont), ‘ Candidatus Carsonella ruddii’ at the population level. RESULTS Maximum likelihood, haplotype network, principal components and Bayesian clustering identified three lineages for D. citri and its P‐endosymbiont: a Western clade containing individuals from Pakistan, Bhutan (Phuentsholing), Vietnam (Son La), USA, Myanmar and China (Ruili, Yunnan); a Central clade, with accessions originating from Southwest China, Bhutan (Tsirang) and Bangladesh; and an Eastern clade containing individuals from Southeast Asia, and East and South China. A more diverse genetic structure was apparent in the host mitochondrial DNA than their P‐endosymbionts; however, the two sets of data were strongly congruent. CONCLUSION This study provides evidence for the co‐diversification of D. citri and its P‐endosymbiont during the migration from South Asia to East and Southeast Asia. We also suggest that the P‐endosymbiont may facilitate investigations into the genealogy and migration history of the host. The biogeography of D. citri and its P‐endosymbiont indicated that D. citri colonized and underwent a secondary dispersal from South Asia to East and Southeast Asia. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

Endemic tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) has not been documented in Nigeria, yet clinically compatible cases have been described, and soft tick species are endemic in surrounding countries. Consequently, our aim was to investigate if TBRF-associated Borrelia is present in Nigeria.

AbstractHuanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening, is a destructive disease of citrus; it is considered a newly emerging disease which has spread to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In Iran, the disease was first found in 2009. In this study, two hypervariable prophage and phage‐related loci, bacteriophage repressor protein C1 (CLIBASIA_ 01645 locus) and prophage terminase gene (CLIBASIA_05610 locus), were used to determine the diversity and characterization of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) strains associated with HLB samples. Analyses of the CLIBASIA_01645 locus, characteristic of variable tandem repeat numbers (VTRNs), revealed the homogeneity of Iranian CLas isolates: However, this result showed two distinct genotypes (TRN < 10 and TRN > 10) of CLas in Iran. This is the first report documenting the presence of two differentially distributed genotypes of CLas in Iran. Sequence analysis of prophage terminase revealed the presence of two putative prophages (prophage I and prophage II) in the genome of CLas isolates of Iran. Frequency analysis of these two prophages by specific loci revealed the association between prophages populations, the development HLB symptoms and CLas genotypes and their interactions with another obligate symbiontic, HLB phytoplasma.