Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2013) 79, 6948-6957

Matthew A. Tancos, Laura Chalupowicz, Isaac Barash, Shulamit Manulis-Sasson and Christine D. Smart (2013)
Tomato fruit and seed colonization by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis through external and internal routes
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 79 (22), 6948-6957
Abstract: The Gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, causal agent of bacterial wilt and canker of tomato, is an economically devastating pathogen that inflicts considerable damage throughout all major tomato-producing regions. Annual outbreaks continue to occur in New York, where C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis spreads via infected transplants, trellising stakes, tools, and/or soil. Globally, new outbreaks can be accompanied by the introduction of contaminated seed stock; however, the route of seed infection, especially the role of fruit lesions, remains undefined. In order to investigate the modes of seed infection, New York C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis field strains were stably transformed with a gene encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP). A constitutively eGFP-expressing virulent C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis isolate, GCMM-22, was used to demonstrate that C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis could not only access seeds systemically through the xylem but also externally through tomato fruit lesions, which harbored high intra- and intercellular populations. Active movement and expansion of bacteria into the fruit mesocarp and nearby xylem vessels followed, once the fruits began to ripen. These results highlight the ability of C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis to invade tomato fruits and seeds through multiple entry routes.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Christine D. Smart, Shulamit Manulis-Sasson

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
transmission/dispersal of plant diseases

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Clavibacter michiganensis	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	U.S.A. (NE)