Characterization of AG-13, a Newly Reported Anastomosis Group of Rhizoctonia solani.

ABSTRACT Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group (AG)-13 was collected from diseased roots of field grown cotton plants in Georgia in the United States. Isolates of AG-13 did not anastomose with tester isolates of AG-1 through AG-12. Mycelium of all isolates of AG-13 were light brown but darkened as cultures aged. All isolates produced aerial mycelium. Concentric rings were visible after 3 to 4 days of growth but disappeared as cultures aged and darkened. Individual sclerotia were up to 1.5 mm in diameter, similar in color to the mycelium, and generally embedded in the agar. Clumps of sclerotia up to 5 mm in diameter were produced on the agar surface. All attempts to induce basidiospore production were unsuccessful. The 5.8S region of the rDNA from isolates of AG-13 was identical in length and sequence to isolates of all other AGs of R. solani. Length and sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNA from isolates of AG-13 were unique among AGs of R. solani. Similarity between AG-13 and other AGs of R. solani ranged from 68 to 85% for ITS region 1 and 85 to 95% for ITS region 2. Selected isolates of AG-13 caused minor or no damage to barley, cauliflower, cotton, lettuce, potato, and radish in laboratory or greenhouse studies.

Hyphal Anastomosis Reactions, rDNA-Internal Transcribed Spacer Sequences, and Virulence Levels Among Subsets of Rhizoctonia solani Anastomosis Group-2 (AG-2) and AG-BI.

ABSTRACT Hyphal anastomosis reactions, rDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, and virulence of isolates representing Rhizoctonia solani AG-BI and six subsets of anastomosis group (AG)-2 (-2-1, -2-2 IIIB, -2-2 IV, -2-2 LP, -2-3, and -2-4) were compared. AG-2-4 is a subset described for the first time in this report. Anastomosis reactions within AG-BI and the listed subsets of AG-2 were generally strong but, between subsets, ranged from strong to a very weak "bridging" -type reaction. Anastomosis reaction alone generally did not provide adequate evidence for placement of an isolate into a subset of AG-2. Anastomosis reactions between AG-BI and the original subsets of AG-2 (-2-1 and -2-2) are very strong; for this reason, we propose that it be included as a subset of AG-2 (designation AG-2 BI). Subsets -2-3 and -2-4 show very weak bridging-type anastomosis reactions with all other subsets of AG-2 and thus may be candidates for independent AG status. Grouping within AG-2 based on rDNA-ITS sequences was consistent with the abovementioned subsets. However, grouping based on virulence as measured herein does not conform to established grouping patterns within AG-2 and does not seem useful as a group-defining criterion. A broad range of damage was observed among members of the most virulent subsets (-2-1, -2-2 IIIB, -2-2 IV, and -2-4), whereas other subsets (-2 BI, -2-2 LP, and -2-3) were similar to one another in causing a minimal level of damage. Group-specific primer pairs for each of the seven subsets of AG-2 were designed based on the abovementioned rDNA-ITS sequences. Primer pairs proved dependable and subset specific in polymerase chain reaction amplifications of purified genomic DNA from 109 isolates of R. solani and two isolates of binucleate Rhizoctonia. These primers will provide a simple and useful method for subset-specific characterization within AG-2 if further critical evaluations confirm their specificity.

Streptomyces turgidiscabies sp. nov.

A new bacterial species is described, for which the name Streptomyces turgidiscabies is proposed. This organism causes potato (Solanum tuberosum) scab in eastern Hokkaido, Japan; the lesions caused are distinctly erumpent. In culture, S. turgidiscabies is distinct from other scab-causing Streptomyces species, having flexuous spore chains and grey mass colour. The spores of this organism are cylindrical and smooth. Its cell walls contain the LL-diaminopimelic acid isomer, and its DNA G + C content is 71 mol%. S. turgidiscabies does not produce melanin or other diffusible pigments, does not grow on agar media at pH 4.0 or 37 degrees C, is positive for utilization of raffinose and inulin as a carbon source, and is sensitive to streptomycin (20 micrograms ml-1), penicillin G (10 IU ml-1), polymyxin B (15 micrograms ml-1), and thallium acetate (10 micrograms ml-1). The levels of DNA relatedness within S. turgidiscabies strains are high but relatedness between strains of this species and strains of S. acidiscabies, S. scabies, S. caviscabies, S. griseus, S. setonii and S. tendae are low. The type strain is SY9113T (= ATCC 700248T = IFO 16080T).

Sequence variation of the rDNA ITS regions within and between anastomosis groups in Rhizoctonia solani.

Sequence analysis of the rDNA region containing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and the 5.8s rDNA coding sequence was used to evaluate the genetic diversity of 45 isolates within and between anastomosis groups (AGs) in Rhizoctonia solani. The 5.8s rDNA sequence was completely conserved across all the AGs examined, whereas the ITS rDNA sequence was found to be highly variable among isolates. The sequence homology in the ITS regions was above 96% for isolates of the same subgroup, 66-100% for isolates of different subgroups within an AG, and 55-96% for isolates of different AGs. In neighbor-joining trees based on distances derived from ITS-5.8s rDNA sequences, subgroups IA, IB and IC within AG-1 and subgroups HG-I and HG-II within AG-4 were placed on statistically significant branches as assessed by bootstrap analysis. These results suggest that sequence analysis of ITS rDNA regions of R. solani may be a valuable tool for identifying AG subgroups of biological significance.