First Report of Dickeya dadantii Causing Soft Rot in Cariru in Brazil.

Cariru (Talinum fruticosum) is a non-conventional food plant and a source of vitamins A, B2, B5, and C, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. It is an important crop for producers of the Amazon region and it is used as a leafy green vegetable, similar to spinach, as well as for medicinal purposes. It is cultivated by producers in the states of Pará and Amazonas (Amorim et al. 2014). In February 2020, in gardens of approximately 1.0 and 0.18 ha in the municipality of Ananindeua (01° 34' 12" S - 48° 38' 11" W), Pará, Brazil, we observed approximately 10% of the plants exhibited soft rot symptoms, bacterial oozing, and stem pith disintegration. From cariru infected leaves, the bacteria were selectively isolated using healthy pepper fruit, as described by Moraes et al. (2017). Two strain (UFRADD17 and UFRADD18) were obtained and both showed white, small, "broken glass" colonies on CPG (peptone-casamino acid-glucose) medium when observed in a stereoscope under oblique lighting. Pathogenicity tests were performed on 20-day-old cariru seedlings by depositing 10 ul of the bacterial suspension (106 CFU/ml) onto a wound made on the leaf blade with an entomological pin. After inoculation, seedlings were incubated in a greenhouse for 48 h at 30 ± 2°C and 90 ± 2% RH. Plants treated similarly with sterile distilled water were used as a negative control. Symptoms of soft rot were observed between 12 and 24 h after inoculation. Seedlings used as negative control remained symptomless. Forty-eight hours after inoculation, we reisolated the pathogen and performed rep-PCR (REP, ERIC, and BOX-PCR) analyses (Gama et al. 2018) with the strains used for inoculation and those reisolated from the pathogenicity test to confirm the identity of the strains and to fulfill Koch's postulates. The two re-isolated strains showed the same REP, ERIC, and BOX-PCR profiles as the strains used for inoculation. In addition, there were no differences between the rep-PCR profiles of the isolates UFRADD17 and UFRADD18. These isolates were Gram-negative, grew at 37°C, and were positive for maceration in pepper fruit and potato tubers. Molecular identification of the isolate UFRADD18 was performed from sequencing fragments from the 16S rDNA region and dnaX, fusA, gyrA, and mdH housekeeping genes as previously described (Van der Wolf et al. 2014; Ma et al. 2007). Sequences were deposited in Genbank under accessions OP142347, OP191704, OP191705, OP191706, and OP191707. Blastn analysis showed 96.15% identity with the 16S rDNA region of accession KY231142.1 (400/416 bp), 99.5% identity with dnaX of accession KC844490.1 (396/398 bp), 99.86% identity with fusA of accession CP023467.1 (714/715 bp), 99.74% identity with gyrA of accession KC844598 (387/388 bp), and 99.10% identity with mdH of accession GQ891979.1 (563/560 bp) from the type strain of Dickeya dadantii. A phylogenetic analysis performed by Bayesian inference with the dnaX, fusA, gyrA, and mdH genes grouped the isolate UFRADD18 along with NCPPB898T, with a 1.00 posterior probability. To our knowledge, this is the first report of D. dadantii causing soft rot in cariru in the Brazilian territory. In addition, this report increases understanding of the host range of this bacterium, which is important for adopting management strategies based on the control of alternative hosts.

Açaí palm seedling growth promotion by rhizobacteria inoculation.

Lower growth rate of the açaí palm seedlings limits the crops' commercial expansion. The goal was evaluating the biometry, biomass accumulation, nutrient contents, chlorophyll-a fluorescence, and gas exchange in açaí seedlings inoculated with rhizobacteria. The treatments were individual inoculations of the seven rhizobacteria isolates and one control (without inoculation) on the roots. Biometry and biomass data were submitted to cluster analysis to separate the isolates into groups according to the similarity degree, and groups' means were compared through the SNK test. Three groups were formed; group 1 was composed of the control; group 2 of the UFRA-35, UFRA-38, UFRA-58, UFRA-61, UFRA-92, and BRM-32111 isolates; and group 3 was composed of the BRM-32113 isolate. Group 2 and 3 isolates promoted an increase in growth, biomass accumulation, higher levels of nutrients and chlorophyll, and improvements in the gas exchange and chlorophyll-a fluorescence in comparison with the control. The results evidenced that the rhizobacteria accelerate the growth, increase the photosynthetic efficiency, and induce the leaf nutrient accumulation in açaí palm seedlings. The rhizobacteria inoculation can contribute to the sustainable management of the açaí palm seedling production in nurseries.

Coupling physiological analysis with proteomic profile to understand the photosynthetic responses of young Euterpe oleracea palms to drought.

This study examined whether drought sensitivity in açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is associated with reductions in photosynthesis and increasing oxidative stress in response to down-regulation of proteins related to photosynthetic reactions, photorespiration, and antioxidant system. Well-watered (Control) and drought-stressed plants were compared when leaf water potential in stressed plants reached around - 1.5 and - 3.0 MPa, representing moderate and severe drought. Drought caused 84 and 96% decreases in net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance. Stress-mediated changes in maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry were unobserved, but drought decreased photochemical quenching, actual quantum yield of PSII electron transport, and apparent electron transport rate (ETR). Moderate and severe drought induced, respectively, decreases and increases in non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and 74 and 273% increases in ETR/Pn. Moderate drought down-regulated PSII protein D2, chlorophyll a-b binding protein 8, photosystem I reaction center subunit N, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, and transketolase; while severe drought down-regulated LHC II proteins, ferredoxin-NADP reductase, ATP synthase subunits ε and ß, and carbonic anhydrase isoform X2. The glutamate-glyoxylate aminotransferase 2 and glycine dehydrogenase were down-regulated upon moderate drought, while catalase 2 and glycine cleavage system H protein 3 were up-regulated. Severe drought up-regulated glycolate oxidase, glycine cleavage system H protein 3, and aminomethyl transferase, but most of photorespiration-related proteins were only found in control plants. Down-regulation of chaperones and antioxidant enzymes and increased lipid peroxidation in stressed plants were observed upon both stress severities. Therefore, the decreases in Pn and failure in preventing oxidative damages through adjustments in NPQ and photorespiration- and antioxidant-related proteins accounted for drought sensitivity in açaí.