ABSTRACT
In Brazil, citrus huanglongbing (HLB) is associated with 'Candidatus Liberibacter americanus' (CLam) and 'Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus' (CLas). However, there are few studies about HLB epidemiology when both Liberibacter spp. and its insect vector, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP, Diaphorina citri), are present. The objective of this work was to compare the transmission of HLB by ACP when both CLam and CLas are present as primary inoculum. Two experiments were performed under screenhouse conditions from April 2008 to January 2012 (experiment 1) and from February 2011 to December 2015 (experiment 2). The experiments were carried out with sweet orange plants infected with CLam or CLas as inoculum source surrounded by sweet orange healthy plants. One hundred Liberibacter-free adult psyllids were monthly confined to the source of inoculum plants for 7 days with subsequent free movement inside the screenhouse. Fortnightly, nymphs and adults of psyllids were monitored. Psyllid and leaf samples were collected periodically for Liberibacter detection by PCR or quantitative PCR. CLas was detected more frequently than CLam in both psyllid and leaf samples. No mixed infections were detected in the psyllids. A clear prevalence of CLas over CLam was observed in both experiments. The final HLB incidences were 16.7 and 14.5% of Liberibacter-positive test plants, and CLas was detected in 92.3 and 93.1% of these infected plants. Mixed infection was observed only in 3.8% of infected test plants in experiment 1. These results endorse the shift in the prevalence of CLam to CLas observed in citrus orchards of São Paulo, Brazil.
Subject(s)
Citrus , Hemiptera , Rhizobiaceae , Animals , Brazil , Environment, Controlled , Liberibacter , Plant DiseasesABSTRACT
Northern Corn Leaf Blight (NCLB) is a fungal leaf disease in maize caused by Exserohilum turcicum. NCLB occurs worldwide, from tropical to temperate zones raising the question about plasticity of temperature adaptation of local isolates of the pathogen. Seven isolates of E.turcicum originating from South America and seven from Europe were compared for their response to temperature variations in vitro and in vivo between 15 and 30 °C. In vitro, isolates originating from Europe and South America significantly differed in mycelial growth rate at 30 °C and in sporulation at 25 °C and 30 °C. Aggressiveness of E. turcicum isolates was evaluated on three susceptible maize cultivars (maize lines B37, Sus1 and the German hybrid Niklas) under different day/night temperature regimes (15/10 °C, 20/15 °C, 25/20 °C, or 30/25 °C) with a photoperiod of 14 h. Aggressiveness, recorded as area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), of South American isolates was higher than for European isolates at 15 °C, 20 °C and 25 °C, and for sporulation in vivo in all temperatures. In general, aggressiveness components were most influenced by temperature. Therefore, multivariate analysis was performed with aggressiveness component data at 30 °C, which expressed the highest number of variables with significant differences between isolate origins. According to their aggressiveness, European and South American isolates can be grouped separately, demonstrating that South American isolates are better adapted to higher temperatures and display a higher level of aggressiveness under similar conditions than European isolates from a cool climate. It is concluded that plasticity of temperature adaptation in E.turcicum populations is relatively large and allowed E. turcicum to follow the recent expansion of maize cultivation into cool climate zones in Europe. However, our data suggest that adaptation to higher temperature is likely to increase aggressiveness of NCLB on maize in cooler climate zones when experiencing further climate warming. This plasticity in adaptation to environmental conditions of E.turcicum may also hamper the success of breeding programs as it may decrease the durability of resistance.
