Goss's Bacterial Blight and Wilt of Corn Caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis Occurs in Minnesota.

Goss's bacterial wilt and blight caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis (Vidaver and Mandel) Davis et al. can be an economically significant disease of corn (Zea mays L.) (1). Corn hybrids with typical leaf and wilt symptoms of Goss's bacterial blight were observed in two western Minnesota fields in Chippewa and Stephens counties in August 2009. Disease incidence was estimated at 40% in one field and 90% in the other. Symptoms consisted of large, tan-to-gray, linear lesions with irregular margins parallel to the veins, with up to 50% of the leaf area symptomatic. Irregular, dark green-to-black, water-soaked spots occurred in the lesions and dried bacterial exudate was present on the lesions. Bacterial streaming from the cut edge of lesions was visible with light microscopy. Fungal structures were not observed in the lesions. Bacteria were isolated from infected leaves collected in both fields. Sections were cut from the margins of the lesions and placed in 0.02 mM phosphate buffer (PB). Bacterial suspensions were spread onto yeast glucose medium (YGM) (3) and incubated for 5 days at 22°C. All colonies were orange and similar in appearance to C. michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis reference strain CIC016 (= CN313.0). Single colonies were subcultured onto YGM and CNS media. Two gram-positive strains, CIC251 and CIC252, were orange, circular, and convex on CNS medium and used to demonstrate Koch's postulates on corn (2). Bacterial suspensions containing 2 × 108 CFU/ml were prepared in PB from 5-day-old cultures grown on YGM. For each of strains CIC251 and CIC252, six plants of the hybrid DKC51-45 were inoculated at the V3 growth stage by swabbing inoculum over the second and third youngest leaves with Carborundum. Three control plants were treated similarly with sterile PB. Plants were incubated in a greenhouse at 20 to 24°C. Linear, water-soaked lesions typical of Goss's wilt began to develop on all inoculated leaves 7 days after inoculation. No symptoms developed on control plants. Two leaf samples with lesions were collected per plant and bacteria isolated as described above. Colonies with characteristics of C. michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis were isolated from all lesions. Presumptive identification of strains CIC251 and CIC252 as C. michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis, as well as colonies isolated from inoculated plants, was validated by rDNA sequencing. Genomic DNA was extracted from 3-day-old colonies on YGM and the 16S region was amplified (~1,480 bp) by PCR assay using primers F27 and r1492 (4). Forward and reverse sequences were aligned and base calls confirmed using Sequencher 4.9. Consensus sequences for each strain were compared with the nucleotide database with BLAST to confirm a 99% match to C. michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis (NCBI GenBank AM410697.1 and U09763.1). This confirms, for the first time (to our knowledge), that Goss's bacterial leaf blight and wilt of corn occurs in Minnesota and could be a production and phytosanitary concern in that state. References: (1) M. Davis et al. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 34:107, 1984. (2) M. Davis and A. Vidaver. Page 221 in: Laboratory Guide for Identification of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. 3rd ed. N. Schaad et al., eds. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 2001. (3) S. DeBoer and R. Copeman, Am. Potato J. 57:457, 1980. (4) S. Giovannoni. Page 177 in: Nucleic Acid Techniques in Bacterial Systematics. E. Stackebrandt and M. Goodfellow, eds. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, New York, 1991.

Comparison of stool containment in cloth and single-use diapers using a simulated infant feces.

Single-use diapers and cloth diapers with vinyl pants were compared for their relative abilities to contain stool within the diaper. Artificial feces with carbon black as an additive allowed a quantitative measure of fecal containment by image analysis in 60 infants. This method showed complete containment of feces in the diaper in 50% of the single-use diapers whereas only 10% of the cloth diapers showed complete containment. In infants where the border of the vinyl pants was used as the boundary of containment with the cloth diapers, complete containment occurred only 33% of the time. Fluorescein dye ratings for containment/leakage in 69 infants showed that 83% of single-use diapers and 30% of the cloth diapers were rated as having no or minor leakage of feces. Cultures were taken of laundered vinyl pants that had previously been used over cloth diapers to determine microbial contamination. Thirty-nine percent of the pants contained Gram-negative, lactose-fermenting bacilli indicating fecal contamination. This study comparing single-use and cloth diapers for containment of artificial feces by use of image analysis and fluorescein dye ratings showed better containment by single-use diapers. The study also raises the question of possible spread of feces-borne pathogens by the vinyl pants used over cloth diapers, particularly in a day-care center.

Variable assimilation of carbon compounds by Candida albicans.

A total of 215 typical strains of Candida albicans were studied for their ability to assimilate 11 carbon compounds. All isolates assimilated lactic acid, ribitol, succinic acid, methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside. None of the isolates assimilated cellobiose and salicin; 1.9% of the isolates assimilated L-arabinose. Citric acid, glycerol, and L-sorbose were assimilated by greater than 97% of the isolates, whereas melezitose was assimilated by 81% of the isolates. Assimilation results depended on duration of incubation, temperature, and methodology.

Cellular and humoral immune status in women with chronic Candida vaginitis.

The cellular and humoral immune responses of nine women with chronic Candida vaginitis and 29 control subjects were evaluated. Agglutinating and precipitating antibodies were studied and tests of lymphocyte transformation, lymphokine production, and cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity were performed. The results suggest a lack of cellular immune response to Candida antigens in women with chronic Candida vaginitis.

Increasing the predictive value positive of the precipitin test for the diagnosis of deep-seated candidiasis.

Three hundred fifty human sera were tested by double immunodiffusion, crossed-line electrophoresis, and crossed immuno-affinoelectrophoresis with a concanavalin A intermediate gel for precipitating antibodies to antigens present in cytoplasmic extracts of Candida albicans. Sera from 48 of 287 hospitalized patients at risk of invasive candidiasis contained precipitating antibodies to Candida antigens. Of these 48 sera, 27 had precipitating antibodies only to cell-wall antigens present in the cytoplasmic extract, and 21 sera had precipitating antibodies to both cytoplasmic and cell-wall antigens. The latter sera came from patients who were 2.5 times as likely to have deep-seated candidiasis as those patients with precipitins exclusively to cell-wall antigens. Sera from seven of 22 patients with vaginal candidiasis and 10 of 41 patients with other fungal infections had precipitating antibodies to C. albicans cell-wall antigens; only two of these sera also contained precipitating antibodies to the cytoplasmic antigens. Crossed immunoaffinoelectrophoresis with concanavalin A reduced the number of false-positive results and increased the predictive value positive of the precipitin test for deep-seated candidiasis from 31% to 71%.

Cell wall antigens in soluble cytoplasmic extracts of candida albicans as demonstrated by crossed immuno-affinoelectrophoresis with concanavalin A.

Crossed immuno-affinoelectrophoresis with Concanavalin A precipitated four antigens from soluble extracts of the yeast and mycelial phases of Candida albicans. Two of these antigens were also present in spheroplast preparations. One of the Concanavalin A precipitated antigens was destroyed by periodate and none were digested by pronase. Sequential treatment with pronase and periodate destroyed two of the remaining three antigens. The Concanavalin A precipitated antigens appear to be glycoproteins, two of which are associated with the cell wall of C. albicans.

Cytoplasmic antigens unique to the mycelial or yeast phase of Candida albicans.

Crossed immunoelectrophoresis with absorption in situ was used to distinguish the cytoplasmic antigens unique to the mycelial or yeast phase of Candida albicans from cytoplasmic antigens shared by both phases. The soluble cytoplasmic extracts of each growth phase had at least six distinct antigenic constituents not shared by the other phase. This technique is recommended for the analysis of closely related antigenic complexes.