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3843

In summer 2012, carrot (Daucus carota L.) plants displaying symptoms of leaf yellowing, stunting and proliferation of dwarfed shoots with bushy tops, and a dense hairy growth of secondary roots were observed. Symptomatic carrots were collected from three fields used for seed production and located in Region Centre of France near Orléans. The presence of psyllids (Psyllidae) in one of the fields was reported but they were not clearly identified. Fifty percent of the field was infected. Due to a large amount of plant debris, the harvested seeds were difficult to separate and the germination rate was low (from 10 to 77%), rendering them unmarketable. The symptoms observed were similar to those described for carrots infected by Aster yellows phytoplasma and ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ in Europe (3). Total DNA was extracted from petiole and root tissue of 16 symptomatic and 6 asymptomatic carrots (cv. Amsterdam, CAC3075), 2 samples of black nightshade leaves (Solanum nigrum) collected from the same fields, and 2 samples of carrot plants (cv Berlicum) grown in a high containment greenhouse, using a cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) buffer extraction method. All DNA extracts were tested for phytoplasmas (1) and for ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ by real-time PCR (2). DNA extracts were also tested for ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ by PCR using primer pairs OA2/OI2c and CL514F/R to amplify a portion of 16S rDNA and rpIJ/rpIL ribosomal protein genes, respectively (4). DNA from greenhouse carrot plants yielded no amplicon with all PCR. Phytoplasma was not detected in any of the tested samples. However, amplification was observed with the real-time PCR assay for ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ (2) for all DNA samples extracted from symptomatic and asymptomatic field carrots (cycle threshold [ct] values between 16.75 and 30.59), and from S. nigrum (ct between 31.62 and 33.25). For field carrot DNA, a 1,168-bp 16S rDNA fragment and a 669-bp rpIJ/rpIL fragment were amplified whereas DNA from S. nigrum yielded no amplicon. Four amplicons obtained from these PCR assays with both primer pairs from symptomatic carrot samples were sequenced directly (Beckmann Coulter Genomics, Grenoble, France). BLAST analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences (KF357911) showed 99% nucleotide identity to those of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ amplified from carrot in Finland (GU373049). The rpIJ/rpIL nucleotide sequences (KF357912) were 99% identical to sequences of the analogous rpIJ/rpIL ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ ribosomal protein gene from carrot in Spain (JX308305). These results confirmed the presence of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ in all symptomatic and asymptomatic carrot sampled in Region Centre, France. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this pathogen in carrot in France. These results, in addition to those previously obtained (4), suggest a wider distribution of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ than previously reported in Europe and should lead plant health managers to consider this pathogen as an emerging threat. References: (1) N. M. Christensen et al. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 17:1175, 2004. (2) W. Li et al. J. Microbiol. Methods 78:59, 2009. (3) J. E. Munyaneza et al. Plant Dis. 94:639, 2010. (4) J. E. Munyaneza et al. Plant Dis. 96:453, 2012.

A thermophilic, filamentous, heterotrophic bacterium, designated strain JAD2T, a member of an as-yet uncultivated lineage that is present and sometimes abundant in some hot springs worldwide, was isolated from sediment of Great Boiling Spring in Nevada, USA. Cells had a mean diameter of 0.3 µm and length of 4.0 µm, and formed filaments that typically ranged in length from 20 to 200 µm. Filaments were negative for the Gram stain reaction, spores were not formed and motility was not observed. The optimum temperature for growth was 72.5–75 °C, with a range of 67.5–75 °C, and the optimum pH for growth was 6.75, with a range of pH 6.5–7.75. Peptone, tryptone or yeast extract were able to support growth when supplemented with vitamins, but no growth was observed using a variety of defined organic substrates. Strain JAD2T was microaerophilic and facultatively anaerobic, with optimal growth at 1 % (v/v) O2 and an upper limit of 8 % O2. The major cellular fatty acids (>5 %) were C16 : 0, C19 : 0, C18 : 0, C20 : 0 and C19 : 1. The genomic DNA G+C content was 69.3 mol%. Phylogenetic and phylogenomic analyses using sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and other conserved genes placed JAD2T within the phylum Chloroflexi , but not within any existing class in this phylum. These results indicate that strain JAD2T is the first cultivated representative of a novel lineage within the phylum Chloroflexi , for which we propose the name Thermoflexus hugenholtzii gen. nov., sp. nov., within Thermoflexia classis nov., Thermoflexales ord. nov. and Thermoflexaceae fam. nov. The type strain of Thermoflexus hugenholtzii is JAD2T ( = JCM 19131T = CCTCC AB-2014030T).

In this study, the taxonomic position and group classification of the phytoplasma associated with a lethal yellowing-type disease (LYD) of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) in Mozambique were addressed. Pairwise similarity values based on alignment of nearly full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences (1530 bp) revealed that the Mozambique coconut phytoplasma (LYDM) shared 100 % identity with a comparable sequence derived from a phytoplasma strain (LDN) responsible for Awka wilt disease of coconut in Nigeria, and shared 99.0–99.6 % identity with 16S rRNA gene sequences from strains associated with Cape St Paul wilt (CSPW) disease of coconut in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Similarity scores further determined that the 16S rRNA gene of the LYDM phytoplasma shared <97.5 % sequence identity with all previously described members of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma ’. The presence of unique regions in the 16S rRNA gene sequence distinguished the LYDM phytoplasma from all currently described members of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma ’, justifying its recognition as the reference strain of a novel taxon, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma palmicola’. Virtual RFLP profiles of the F2n/R2 portion (1251 bp) of the 16S rRNA gene and pattern similarity coefficients delineated coconut LYDM phytoplasma strains from Mozambique as novel members of established group 16SrXXII, subgroup A (16SrXXII-A). Similarity coefficients of 0.97 were obtained for comparisons between subgroup 16SrXXII-A strains and CSPW phytoplasmas from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. On this basis, the CSPW phytoplasma strains were designated members of a novel subgroup, 16SrXXII-B.

We investigated the bacterial community compositions and phosphorus removal performance under sludge bulking and non-bulking conditions in two biological wastewater treatment systems (conventional A2/O (anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic) and inverted A2/O (anoxic/anaerobic/aerobic) processes) receiving the same raw wastewater. Sludge bulking resulted in significant shift in bacterial compositions from Proteobacteria dominance to Actinobacteria dominance, characterized by the significant presence of filamentous ‘Candidatus Microthrix parvicella’. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed that the relative abundance of ‘Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis’, a key polyphosphate-accumulating organism responsible for phosphorus removal, with respect to 16s rRNA genes of total bacteria was 0.8 and 0.7%, respectively, for the conventional and inverted A2/O systems when sludge bulking occurred, which increased to 8.2 and 12.3% during the non-bulking period. However, the total phosphorus removal performance during the bulking period (2-week average: 97 ± 1 and 96 ± 1%, respectively) was not adversely affected comparable to that during the non-bulking period (2-week average: 96 ± 1 and 96 ± 1%, respectively). Neisser staining revealed the presence of large polyphosphate granules in ‘Candidatus Microthrix parvicella’, suggesting that this microbial group might have been responsible for phosphorus removal during the sludge bulking period when ‘Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis’ was excluded from the systems.

ABSTRACT “ Candidatus Synechococcus spongiarum” is a cyanobacterial symbiont widely distributed in sponges, but its functions at the genome level remain unknown. Here, we obtained the draft genome (1.66 Mbp, 90% estimated genome recovery) of “ Ca. Synechococcus spongiarum” strain SH4 inhabiting the Red Sea sponge Carteriospongia foliascens . Phylogenomic analysis revealed a high dissimilarity between SH4 and free-living cyanobacterial strains. Essential functions, such as photosynthesis, the citric acid cycle, and DNA replication, were detected in SH4. Eukaryoticlike domains that play important roles in sponge-symbiont interactions were identified exclusively in the symbiont. However, SH4 could not biosynthesize methionine and polyamines and had lost partial genes encoding low-molecular-weight peptides of the photosynthesis complex, antioxidant enzymes, DNA repair enzymes, and proteins involved in resistance to environmental toxins and in biosynthesis of capsular and extracellular polysaccharides. These genetic modifications imply that “ Ca. Synechococcus spongiarum” SH4 represents a low-light-adapted cyanobacterial symbiont and has undergone genome streamlining to adapt to the sponge’s mild intercellular environment. IMPORTANCE Although the diversity of sponge-associated microbes has been widely studied, genome-level research on sponge symbionts and their symbiotic mechanisms is rare because they are unculturable. “ Candidatus Synechococcus spongiarum” is a widely distributed uncultivated cyanobacterial sponge symbiont. The genome of this symbiont will help to characterize its evolutionary relationship and functional dissimilarity to closely related free-living cyanobacterial strains. Knowledge of its adaptive mechanism to the sponge host also depends on the genome-level research. The data presented here provided an alternative strategy to obtain the draft genome of “ Ca. Synechococcus spongiarum” strain SH4 and provide insight into its evolutionary and functional features.