Publications

3813

Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide. The three known causal agents of HLB are species of α-proteobacteria: ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’, ‘Ca. L. africanus’, and ‘Ca. L. americanus’. Previous studies have found distinct variations in temperature sensitivity and tolerance among these species. Here, we describe the use of controlled heat treatments to cure HLB caused by ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’, the most prevalent and heat-tolerant species. Using temperature-controlled growth chambers, we evaluated the time duration and temperature required to suppress or eliminate the ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ bacterium in citrus, using various temperature treatments for time periods ranging from 2 days to 4 months. Results of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) after treatment illustrate significant decreases in the ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ bacterial titer, combined with healthy vigorous growth by all surviving trees. Repeated qPCR testing confirmed that previously infected, heat-treated plants showed no detectable levels of ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’, while untreated control plants remained highly infected. Continuous thermal exposure to 40 to 42°C for a minimum of 48 h was sufficient to significantly reduce titer or eliminate ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ bacteria entirely in HLB-affected citrus seedlings. This method may be useful for the control of ‘Ca. Liberibacter’-infected plants in nursery and greenhouse settings.

A bacterial strain named IGB-41T was isolated from a soil sample from an ant hill near Stuttgart, Germany. The strain was Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile and facultatively anaerobic. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA grouped the strain IGB-41T within the class Betaproteobacteria into the family Neisseriaceae together with Silvimonas amylolytica NBRC 103189T, Silvimonas iriomotensis NBRC 103188T and Silvimonas terrae KM-45T as the closest relatives with sequence similarities of 96.7, 96.6 and 96.1 %, respectively. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 61.5 mol% and quinone analysis revealed Q-8 as the only detectable quinone. Major cellular fatty acids were identified as C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (iso-C15 : 0 2-OH and/or C16 : 1ω7c) and C18 : 1ω7c . Strain IGB-41T was unique in harbouring phosphoaminolipids, aminolipids and glycoaminolipids when compared with Silvimonas amylolytica NBRC 103189T in polar lipid analysis. On the basis of the physiological, phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of strain IGB-41T, we suggest that the novel strain should be assigned to a new genus Amantichitinum and novel species Amantichitinum ursilacus. The type species of the genus Amantichitinum is Amantichitinum ursilacus and the type strain is IGB-41T ( = DSM 23761T = CIP 110167T).