Publications

3841

El tomate es una de las hortalizas de mayor consumo a nivel mundial, y México ocupa los primeros lugares en exportación. Plagas y enfermedades que atacan el cultivo de tomate obligan a los productores a usar plaguicidas, causando contaminación ambiental. En la actualidad se buscan nuevos productos que sean amigables con el medio ambiente, pero que a su  vez tengan efectividad para el control de plagas y enfermedades; una opción viable es la menadiona bisulfito de sodio (MBS). El objetivo de la investigación fue determinar el efecto bioestimulante de la MBS en plantas de tomate infectadas con Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CaLso), así como evaluar la incidencia y severidad de la enfermedad en las plantas. El experimento se desarrolló bajo condiciones de invernadero en tomate de la variedad Floradade, cuyas plantas se trataron con las concentraciones de MBS antes de la inoculación. Se establecieron ocho tratamientos, cuatro inoculados con CaLso y tratados con MBS (55, 80, 100 y 500 ppm), otro con tratamiento químico e inoculado, un tratamiento testigo inoculado y dos tratamientos sin inocular, uno como testigo absoluto y otro solo tratado con 500 ppm MBS. Enseguida se inoculó con CaLso y las aplicaciones de MBS fueron realizadas a intervalos de 15 días posteriores a la inoculación. Se evaluaron variables agronómicas, incidencia y severidad de la enfermedad. La MBS logró reducir la severidad de 23.5 a 41.7 % en plantas inoculadas con la bacteria CaLso, e incrementó las variables agronómicas de altura deplanta, peso fresco y peso seco de la planta y raíz, firmeza y grados Brix. Los resultados mostraron que la MBS puede ser integrada  para el manejo de la enfermedad causada por CaLso en el cultivo del tomate.

Huanglongbing (HLB, or citrus greening disease) affects all citrus varieties worldwide. In the United States, Asia, and South America, the causal agent is ‘ Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ ( CLas), a phloem-limited, uncultured alphaproteobacterium. The hemipteran insect vector Diaphorina citri (Asian citrus psyllid) acquires and transmits CLas in a circulative, propagative manner. In addition to CLas, D. citri hosts multiple symbiotic bacterial species including Wolbachia (wDi). In D. citri, wDi has been sequenced and studied, but specific roles in D. citri biology are unknown. Using well-established quantitative PCR methods, we measured CLas titer in D. citri collected from four groves in central Florida with distinct HLB management strategies and tested whether CLas and wDi titer were correlated in a subset of these insects. Grove site had the largest effect on CLas titer. Sex had no effect on CLas titer, whereas a higher wDi titer was correlated with noninfected insects. Our results suggest that more directed follow-up research is necessary and important to clarify whether field management tactics influence CLas titer in D. citri and to better understand gene-by-environment interactions among D. citri, wDi, and CLas. Now that millions of trees in Florida have been treated with injectable formulations of oxytetracycline, which is likely to decrease bacterial populations in D. citri, this study may represent the last biologically meaningful snapshot of grove-level vector-pathogen ecology in the state during the HLB epidemic.

A Gram-negative, obligatory anaerobic, chemoheterotrophic bacterium, designated strain IA91T, was isolated from sediments and formation water from deep aquifers in Japan. IA91T derives its peptidoglycan, energy and carbon from exogenous cell wall fragments, namely muropeptides, released from actively reproducing bacteria, and is dependent on other bacteria for cell wall formation, growth and even cell shape: IA91T is irregular rod-shaped but coccoids when muropeptide is absent. IA91T grew in a temperature range of 25–45 °C with optimum growth at 40 °C. IA91T utilized limited substrates, yeast extract, muropeptides and d-lactate. The major end products from yeast extract degradation were acetate, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Co-cultivation with a hydrogen-scavenging methanogenic archaeon promoted IA91T growth. No anaerobic respiration with nitrate, nitrite, sulphate or Fe(III) was observed. The major cellular fatty acids are C16 : 0, C18 : 1 trans9, C18 : 0 and C17 : 0. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 45.6 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene and conserved protein sequences involved in replication, transcription and translation indicated that IA91T belonged to the candidate phylum Marine Group A (MG-A, SAR406 or Ca. Marinimicrobia) with no cultivated representatives. Based on the phenotypic and phylogenomic characteristics, a new genus and species, Fidelibacter multiformis gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed for IA91T (= JCM 39387T = KCTC 25736T). In addition, a new bacterial phylum named Fidelibacterota phyl. nov. is proposed for the candidate phylum MG-A represented by F. multiformis and Fidelibacteraceae fam. nov., Fidelibacterales ord. nov. and Fidelibacteria classis nov.

Abstract Candidate bacterial phylum CSP1-3 has not been cultivated and is poorly understood. Here, we analyzed 112 CSP1-3 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) and showed they are likely facultative anaerobes, with three of five families encoding autotrophy through the reductive glycine pathway (RGP), Wood–Ljungdahl pathway (WLP), or Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB), with hydrogen or sulfide as electron donors. Chemoautotrophic enrichments from hot spring sediments and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) revealed enrichment of six CSP1-3 genera, and both transcribed genes and DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) were consistent with proposed chemoautotrophic metabolisms. Ancestral state reconstructions showed that the ancestors of phylum CSP1-3 may have been acetogens that were autotrophic via the RGP, whereas the WLP and CBB were acquired by horizontal gene transfer. Our results reveal that CSP1-3 is a widely distributed phylum with potential to contribute to cycling of carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. The name Sysuimicrobiota phy. nov. is proposed.

‘ Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ is associated with European stone fruit yellows disease, affecting wild and cultivated species of Prunus at different degrees of susceptibility, and so far is being mainly restricted to Europe. Here, we report draft genome sequences for ‘ Ca. Phytoplasma prunorum’ strains ESFY1 and LNS1, which represent the first available for this species. Strain ESFY1 is the causal agent of the European stone fruit yellows disease of P. persica in Germany, and LNS1 is the causal agent of leptonecrosis disease of P. salicina in Italy. Their draft genomes consist of 480,123 and 490,930 bases assembled into 28 and 16 contigs, with an average GC content of 21.1 and 20.7%, respectively. Analysis of average nucleotide identity (ANI) values between genomes further supported the delineation of ‘ Ca. P. prunorum’ as a species distinct from ‘ Ca. P. mali’, in agreement with previous phylogenetic data. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

ABSTRACT The unique cell biology presented by members of the phylum Planctomycetota has puzzled researchers ever since their discovery. Initially thought to have eukaryotic-like features, their traits are now recognized as exceptional but distinctly bacterial. However, recently discovered strains again added novel and stunning aspects to the planctomycetal cell biology—shapeshifting by members of the “ Saltatorellus ” clade to an extent that is unprecedented in any other bacterial phylum, and phagocytosis-like cell engulfment in the bacterium “ Candidatus Uabimicrobium amorphum.” These recent additions to the phylum Planctomycetota indicate hitherto unexplored members with unique cell biology, which we aimed to make accessible for further investigations. Targeting bacteria with features like “ Ca. U. amorphum”, we first studied both the morphology and behavior of this microorganism in more detail. While similar to eukaryotic amoeboid organisms at first sight, we found “ Ca. U. amorphum” to be rather distinct in many regards. Presenting a detailed description of “ Ca. U. amorphum,” we furthermore found this organism to divide in a fashion that has never been described in any other organism. Employing the obtained knowledge, we isolated a second “bacterium of prey” from the harbor of Heligoland Island (North Sea, Germany). Our isolate shares key features with “ Ca. U. amorphum”: phagocytosis-like cell engulfment, surface-dependent motility, and the same novel mode of cell division. Being related to “ Ca. U. amorphum” within genus thresholds, we propose the name “ Ca. Uabimicrobium helgolandensis” for this strain. IMPORTANCE “ Candidatus Uabimicrobium helgolandensis” HlEnr_7 adds to the explored bacterial biodiversity with its phagocytosis-like uptake of prey bacteria. Enrichment of this strain indicates that there might be “impossible” microbes out there, missed by metagenomic analyses. Such organisms have the potential to challenge our understanding of nature. For example, the origin of eukaryotes remains enigmatic, with a contentious debate surrounding both the mitochondrial host entity and the moment of uptake. Currently, favored models involve a proteobacterium as the mitochondrial progenitor and an Asgard archaeon as the fusion partner. Models in which a eukaryotic ancestor engulfed the mitochondrial ancestor via phagocytosis had been largely rejected due to bioenergetic constraints. Thus, the phagocytosis-like abilities of planctomycetal bacteria might influence the debate, demonstrating that prey engulfment is possible in a prokaryotic cellular framework.

AbstractThe continental bedrock contains groundwater-bearing fractures that are home to microbial populations that are vital in mediating the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. However, their diversity is poorly understood due to the difficulty of obtaining samples from this environment. Here, a groundwater-bearing fracture at 975 m depth was isolated by employing packers in order to characterize the microbial community via metagenomes combined with prokaryotic and eukaryotic marker genes (16S and 18S ribosomal RNA gene). Genome-resolved analyses revealed a community dominated by sulfate-reducing Bacillota, predominantly represented by Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator and with Wood-Ljungdahl as the most prevalent pathway for inorganic carbon fixation. Moreover, the eukaryotic community had a considerable diversity and was comprised of mainly flatworms, chlorophytes, crustaceans, ochrophytes, and fungi. These findings support the important role of the Bacillota, with the sulfate reducer Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator as its main representative, as primary producers in the often energy-limited groundwaters of the continental subsurface.

Phytoplasmas are obligate intracellular pathogens that profoundly modify the development, physiology and behavior of their hosts by secreting effector proteins that disturb signal pathways and interactions both in plant and insect hosts. The characterization of effectors and their host-cell targets was performed for only a few phytoplasma species where it was shown that the SAP11 effector alters plant morphology by destabilizing plant transcription factors: TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1-CYCLOIDEA-PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR (TCPs). To explore the possible role of the SAP11-like effector from ‘Ca. P. solani’, we used Arabidopsis thaliana as a model plant. The SAP11-like effector gene from ‘Ca. P. solani’ was introduced into arabidopsis by floral dip and transgenic lines were regenerated. In planta bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BIFC) assays in agroinfiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana leaf cells were conducted to detect interactions between SAP11-like and AtTCP2 and AtTCP4 using confocal microscopy. SAP11-like from ‘Ca. P. solani’ induced significant phenotypic changes in arabidopsis, including crinkled leaves with reduced size, lower biomass, more axillary branches, changes in root morphology, and crinkled and smaller siliques. The BIFC assays proved in planta interaction of SAP11-like effector with AtTCP2 and AtTCP4. To our knowledge, this is the first characterization of the interaction between the ‘Ca. P. solani’ effector and plant transcription factors, suggesting a potential mechanism of modulating plant development and induction of characteristic symptoms in ‘Ca. P. solani’-infected plants.