A Survey for Strains of Xylella fastidiosa in Citrus Affected by Citrus Variegated Chlorosis and Citrus Blight in Brazil.

Polymerase chain reaction amplification of DNA from various strains of Xylella fastidiosa with tRNA consensus primers produced three different fingerprint groups. The citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) and mulberry leaf scorch strains were unique and readily separated from each other and all other strains tested. Internal primers were designed based on the sequence of a DNA fragment unique to the CVC strain. An assay was developed with a mixture of these primers and those reported to detect 18 strains of X. fastidiosa. The assay was used to survey citrus in Brazil. The strain identified to be the cause of CVC was found in constant association with trees with CVC symptoms. On occasion, trees with no symptoms were found to have the CVC strain; this was presumably due to presymptomatic infections. No other strains were found in this survey, and X. fastidiosa was not associated with citrus blight.

Purification of a maize dehydrin.

A maize dehydrin with an apparent molecular weight of 20 kDa was purified from whole kernels of maize inbred line G50. Kernels were ground in a seed mill, stirred overnight in extraction buffer, and centrifuged to extract soluble proteins. The sample was heated to 89 degrees C and centrifuged to remove heat-insoluble proteins. The remaining soluble proteins were fractionated in a three-step chromatographic process. Following cation exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and gel filtration chromatography, pure dehydrin samples were obtained.

A novel protein associated with citrus blight has sequence similarities to expansin.

A protein associated with citrus blight (CB), a disease of unknown cause, was partially characterized. The 12 kDa protein, designated p12, is diagnostic of CB and is present in leaves and xylem fluid from roots and stems of CB-affected trees. The protein, and up to six other CB-specific proteins, are readily detected by SDS-PAGE of xylem fluid from CB-affected trees. The partial N-terminal amino acid sequence of p12 was found to be unique based on database searches. A cDNA library from CB-affected root cambium was screened with a 60 bp fragment, obtained by PCR amplification of cDNA with degenerate primers designed using the amino acid sequence of p12, and two clones were selected. These clones were sequenced revealing a 674 nucleotide cDNA with a 393 nt ORF which included sequence predicted by the N-terminal amino acid sequence of p12. The amino acid sequence based on the p12 ORF was found to be up to 49% similar and 31% identical to expansins. Bacterial expression of the cloned ORF, which encodes an 11.8 kDa protein plus an N-terminal hydrophobic signal peptide, produced an immunoreactive protein of the expected size. By northern blot analysis, it was determined that p12 transcripts are present in root and stem cambium, but not in leaves of CB-affected trees, suggesting transport of the protein to leaves. Southern hybridization analysis of citrus genomic DNA indicated that p12 is a citrus encoded protein.

Citrus psorosis virus: nucleotide sequencing of the coat protein gene and detection by hybridization and RT-PCR.

Citrus psorosis virus (CPV) is a multicomponent ssRNA virus with a coat protein of approximately 48 kDa. The viral genome is encapsidated in short and long particles that are readily separated by sucrose density-gradient centrifugation. CPV particles are spiral filaments that are referred to as spiroviruses (SV). A cDNA library of purified short particles from isolate CPV-4 was prepared in a Lambda vector and screened for expression of the coat protein gene (CPG) with a monoclonal antibody to the coat protein. Sequencing of immunopositive clones indicated a single ORF encoding a 49 kDa protein. This ORF, when expressed in E. coli, gave a protein identical in size and immunoreactivity to the CPV coat protein. A full-length clone of the CPG was transcribed and used in Northern hybridization assays to establish that short particle RNA of CPV is negative sense and contains the CPG. Moreover, the CPG was not found on RNA extracted from long particles or on the sedimentable dsRNA from CPV infected tissue. RT-PCR assays were developed for the amplification of a 600 bp fragment of CPG and for the complete CPG (1317 bp). The 600 bp fragment from a biologically and serologically different isolate, CPV-6, was cloned, sequenced and found to share 86% (nucleotide) and 96% (amino acid) identity with CPV-4. BLAST analysis of sequences from CPV-4 and CPV-6 detected no significant nucleic acid or protein similarity with any known viral sequences.

A ca. 40 kDa maize (Zea mays L.) embryo dehydrin is encoded by the dhn2 locus on chromosome 9.

Dehydrins (LEA D11 proteins) are the products of multigene families in a number of higher plants. To date, however, only one dehydrin locus, dhn1 (a major embryo and drought-induced protein of ca. 18 kDa) has been placed on chromosome 6L of the genetic linkage map of maize. The presence of a larger, ca. 40 kDa embryo protein that is also specifically detected by anti-dehydrin antibodies had been observed in some maize inbreds, including B73, suggesting that other dhn loci may exist. The ca. 22 kDa and ca. 40 kDa immunopositive proteins were purified from B73 and their amino acid compositions determined. The two proteins' amino acid compositions are typical of dehydrins, yet they differ from each other, indicating that they are distinct dhn gene products. Different size alleles for both proteins, or presence/absence in the case of the ca. 40 kDa protein, were evident from comparisons of embryo proteins of various maize inbreds. Analysis of segregating F2 progeny derived from self-pollination of F1 hybrids from four crosses (B73 x OH43, Mo17 x A632, AHO x A632, Latente x A632) revealed that alleles of the two genes assort independently. Map positions of the two dhn loci were then determined using two maize recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping populations. The predicted map position of the gene controlling production of the ca. 22 kDa protein confirmed that this protein is the product of the dhn1 gene. The gene encoding the ca. 40 kDa dehydrin-like protein maps to a new locus on chromosome 9S near wx1, which we have named dhn2.

Introduction of a citrus blight-associated gene into Carrizo citrange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbc. x Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.] by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

The protein p12 accumulates in leaves of trees with citrus blight (CB), a serious decline of unknown cause. The function of p12 is not known, but sequence analysis indicates it may be related to expansins. In studies to determine the function of p12, sense and antisense constructs were used to make transgenic Carrizo citrange using an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. Homogeneous beta-glucuronidase+ (GUS+) sense and antisense transgenic shoots were regenerated using kanamycin as a selective agent. Twenty-five sense and 45 antisense transgenic shoots were in vivo grafted onto Carrizo citrange for further analyses. In addition, 20 sense and 18 antisense shoots were rooted. The homogeneous GUS+ plants contained either the p12 sense or antisense gene (without the intron associated with the gene in untransformed citrus) as shown by PCR and Southern blotting. Northern blots showed the expected RNA in the sense and antisense plants. A protein of identical size and immunoreactivity was observed in seven of nine sense plants but not in nine antisense or non-transgenic plants. At the current stage of growth, there are no visual phenotypic differences between the transgenic and non-transgenic plants. Selected plants will be budded with sweet orange for field evaluation for resistance or susceptibility to CB and general rootstock performance.