Journal of Phytopathology (2012) 160, 441-448

Ubiraci Gomes De Paula Lana, Eliane Aparecida Gomes, Dagma Dionísia Silva, Rodrigo Veras Costa, Luciano Viana Cota, Douglas Ferreira Parreira, Isabel Regina Prazeres Souza and Claudia Teixeira Guimarães (2012)
Detection and molecular diversity of Pantoea ananatis associated with white spot disease in maize, sorghum and crabgrass in Brazil
Journal of Phytopathology 160 (9), 441-448
Abstract: Bacteria of the genus Pantoea have become important plant pathogens worldwide in recent years. Pantoea ananatis was reported as the cause of maize white spot, a serious maize disease in Brazil, causing significant yield losses. However, very little information is available about how to detect this pathogen, its genetic variability and the putative alternative hosts in maize-growing areas. To address these issues, we implemented a rapid and efficient PCR-based method to identify P. ananatis isolated from leaves showing white spot symptoms and evaluated its genetic diversity in maize, sorghum and crabgrass. Of the 29 bacteria isolated from typical water-soaked lesions of white spot disease that produced yellow colonies, 15 isolates were identified as P. ananatis by 16S rDNA sequencing and correctly detected by the PCR reaction, amplifying a specific fragment of the ice nucleation gene (ina). These P. ananatis isolates included 13 from maize, one from sorghum and one from crabgrass, while the other 14 yellow colony isolates were from other bacterial species, including two Pantoea species (Pantoea dispersa and Pantoea agglomerans) that were not amplified by the ina primers. These results indicate that the optimized PCR assay can be used to detect P. ananatis isolated from white spot lesions and could be used as a large-scale and cost-effective method of detecting this pathogen in leaf lesions on maize and other grasses. All isolates were evaluated for hypersensitive response (HR) on tobacco, revealing that some P. ananatis were able to induce HR. The high genetic variability revealed by rep-PCR did not differentiated the P. ananatis isolates based on their hosts or HR reaction. The detection, characterization and diversity of P. ananatis from maize, sorghum and crabgrass in our study can be applied in understanding epidemiology and designing control strategies for maize white spot disease in Brazil.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Claudia Teixeira Guimarães, Luciano V. Cota

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Pantoea ananatis	Maize/corn (Zea mays)
	Pantoea ananatis	Sorghum (crop)