Lactic acid bacteria responsible for the fermentation of a pearl-millet based fermented gruel,
ben-saalga, were investigated for enzyme activity in relation with the nutritional characteristics of ...gruels used as complementary foods for young children. Thirty pre-selected LAB from a set of 155 isolates were characterized principally for their ability to produce amylase, phytase and α-galactosidase. Two
Lactobacillus plantarum strains (4.4 and 6.1) and three
Lactobacillus fermentum strains (11.11.2, 3.7, 7.4) able to produce one or more of these enzymes were selected. Only weak amylase activity was found in the two
Lactobacillus plantarum strains. α-amylase activity was associated with cells and was lower than 0.05 Ceralpha Units/ml. Phytase activity was detected in all five strains and was linked to the cell. The highest phytase activity was found in
Lb. plantarum 4.4 and 6.1 (348.7 ± 17.4U/ml and 276.3 ± 51.4U/ml, respectively) and
Lb. fermentum 7.4. (276.3 ± 13.2U/ml). All strains displayed a cell-linked α-galactosidase activity. In a medium containing 2% glucose, the highest cellular activity was found in
Lb. fermentum 3.7 (1441.1 ± 133.7U/ml) and
Lb. plantarum 4.4 (1223.1 ± 148.3U/ml) after 6h of fermentation in the presence of stachyose, and in
Lb. plantarum 4.4 (763.3 ± 23.5U/ml) and
Lb. fermentum 7.4 (346.7 ± 14.8U/ml) after 24h of fermentation with raffinose. These results are consistent with previous observations showing that phytates and α-galactooligosaccharides decreased during the natural lactic acid fermentation of pearl millet slurries, and that partial starch hydrolysis can be performed by endogenous microflora provided a pre-gelatinisation step is included in the process.
Summary Molecular epidemiology studies further our understanding of migrations of phytopathogenic bacteria, the major determining factor in their emergence. Asiatic citrus canker, caused by ...Xanthomonas citri pv.citri, was recently reported in Mali and Burkina Faso, a region remote from other contaminated areas. To identify the origin and pathways of these emergences, we used two sets of markers, minisatellites and microsatellites, for investigating different evolutionary scales. Minisatellite typing suggested the introduction of two groups of strains in Mali (DAPC1 and DAPC2), consistent with microsatellite typing. DAPC2 was restricted to Bamako district, whereas DAPC1 strains were found much more invasive. The latter strains formed a major clonal complex based on microsatellite data with the primary and secondary founders detected in commercial citrus nurseries and orchards. This suggests that human activities played a major role in the spread of DAPC1 strains via the movement of contaminated propagative material, further supported by the frequent lack of differentiation between populations from geographically distant nurseries and orchards. Approximate Bayesian Computation analyses supported the hypothesis that strains from Burkina Faso resulted from a bridgehead invasion from Mali. Multi-locus variable number of tandem repeat analysis and Approximate Bayesian Computation are useful for understanding invasion routes and pathways of monomorphic bacterial pathogens.
Asiatic citrus canker caused by Xanthomonas citri pv. citri hinders national citrus markets in tropical and subtropical areas and international trade. The bacterium induces erumpent, callus-like ...lesions causing defoliation, premature fruit drop, and twig dieback. Because of the damage caused by infection and reduced marketability of fruit, several countries have undergone eradication. Strains with different host ranges have been described. Pathotype A strains are the most widespread and produce canker in a wide range of citrus species. Pathotype A* strains with a host range restricted to Mexican lime (Citrus aurantifolia), Tahiti lime (C. latifolia), and alemow (C. macrophylla), but not infecting the susceptible species grapefruit (C. paradisi), were described in different areas of Asia (4). Reemergence of X. citri pv. citri pathotype A was recently described in Africa as affecting citrus production in Mali and Somalia. Canker-like infected citrus trees with symptoms on leaves, fruits, and stems were first observed in 2004 in Ethiopia in the Rift Valley Region. After a survey conducted in 2008, the disease was recorded in different areas of the Rift Valley located in the lowlands (altitude <1300 m, daily mean temperatures 24 to 29°C) and confirmed to only affect Mexican lime orchards with disease incidence as much as 80%. Ten canker-like infected leaves were collected during this survey from eight different orchards distributed along the infected area. Isolations were performed using KC semiselective medium (3), and Xanthomonas-like isolates were further characterized. PCR was used to check the identity of these isolates by using X. citri pv. citri strain CFBP 2525 from New Zealand as the positive control and distilled water as the template for the negative control. The DNA fragment typical of X. citri pv. citri was obtained from all the bacterial isolates using the diagnostic primer pair 4/7 (2). Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis of the 80 Ethiopian isolates and additional reference isolates from X. citri pv. citri-A, -A*, and pv. aurantifolii using SacI/MspI and four primer pairs (unlabeled MspI + 1 A, C, T, or G primers and 5'-labeled-SacI + C primer for the selective amplification step) (1) grouped all the Ethiopian isolates in a cluster that was comprised of only X. citri pv. citri pathotype A* strains. On the basis of the AFLP, Ethiopian isolates were only distantly related to X. citri pv. aurantifolii. When inoculated to Mexican lime and Duncan grapefruit by a detached leaf assay (4), all of the Ethiopian strains produced canker on lime only. This confirms the larger geographical distribution of pathotype A*, and to our knowledge, is the first report of its presence on the African continent. This could allow studying the epidemiology of pathotype A* strains in a unique situation where they do not compete with pathotype A strains. The molecular characterization of Ethiopian strains suggests that this introduction event is not related to the recent introduction of citrus canker in neighboring Somalia where X. citri pv. citri pathotype A was identified. Ethiopia will have to prevent the introduction of this wide host range pathotype to avoid further negative impacts on citrus production. References: (1) N. Ah-You et al. Phytopathology 97:1568, 2007. (2) J. S. Hartung et al. Phytopathology 86:95, 1996. (3) O. Pruvost et al. J. Appl. Microbiol. 99:803, 2005. (4) C. Vernière et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 104:477, 1998.
Copper‐based antimicrobial compounds are widely used to control plant bacterial pathogens. Pathogens have adapted in response to this selective pressure. Xanthomonas citri pv. citri, a major citrus ...pathogen causing Asiatic citrus canker, was first reported to carry plasmid‐encoded copper resistance in Argentina. This phenotype was conferred by the copLAB gene system. The emergence of resistant strains has since been reported in Réunion and Martinique. Using microsatellite‐based genotyping and copLAB PCR, we demonstrated that the genetic structure of the copper‐resistant strains from these three regions was made up of two distant clusters and varied for the detection of copLAB amplicons. In order to investigate this pattern more closely, we sequenced six copper‐resistant X. citri pv. citri strains from Argentina, Martinique and Réunion, together with reference copper‐resistant Xanthomonas and Stenotrophomonas strains using long‐read sequencing technology. Genes involved in copper resistance were found to be strain dependent with the novel identification in X. citri pv. citri of copABCD and a cus heavy metal efflux resistance–nodulation–division system. The genes providing the adaptive trait were part of a mobile genetic element similar to Tn3‐like transposons and included in a conjugative plasmid. This indicates the system's great versatility. The mining of all available bacterial genomes suggested that, within the bacterial community, the spread of copper resistance associated with mobile elements and their plasmid environments was primarily restricted to the Xanthomonadaceae family.
Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae causing bacterial canker (or black spot) is a major mango (Mangifera indica L.) pathogen in tropical and subtropical areas (3). The bacterium infects a wide ...range of mango cultivars, and induces raised, angular, black leaf lesions, sometimes with a yellow chlorotic halo. Fruit symptoms first appear as small water-soaked spots on the lenticels turning into star-shaped, erumpent lesions, which exude an infectious gum, yielding tear-stain patterns. Severe infections cause severe defoliation and/or premature fruit drop. Twig cankers are potential sources of inoculum and weaken branch resistance to winds. Drastic yield losses have been reported at grove scale for susceptible cultivars (3). Mango leaves showing typical angular, black, raised leaf lesions were first observed and collected in April 2014 from trees cv. Kent in five localities of the Korhogo province of Ivory Coast (i.e., the major commercial mango-growing area in this country). Non-pigmented Xanthomonas-like colonies were isolated on KC semi-selective medium (4). Five strains (LL60-1, LL61-1, LL62-1, LL63-1, and LL64-1), one from each locality, were compared by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) to the type strain of X. citri and the pathotype strain of several X. citri pathovars, including pvs. anacardii and mangiferaeindicae. This assay targeted the atpD, dnaK, efp, and gyrB genes, as described previously (2). Nucleotide sequences were 100% identical to those of the pathotype strain of X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae whatever the gene assayed, but differed from any other assayed X. citri pathovar. Leaves of mango cv. Maison Rouge from the youngest vegetative flush were infiltrated (10 inoculation sites/leaf for three replicate leaves on different plants/bacterial strain) as detailed previously (1) with the same five strains. Bacterial suspensions (~1 × 10
cfu/ml) were prepared in 10 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.2) from 16-h-old cultures on YPGA (7 g yeast, 7 g peptone, 7 g glucose, and 18 g agar/liter, pH 7.2). The negative control treatment consisted of three leaves infiltrated with sterile Tris buffer (10 sites/leaf). Plants were incubated in a growth chamber at 30 ± 1°C by day and 26 ± 1°C by night (12-h day/night cycle) at 80 ± 5% RH. All leaves inoculated with the strains from Ivory Coast showed typical symptoms of bacterial canker a week after inoculation. No lesions were recorded from the negative controls. The pathogen was recovered at high population densities (>1 × 10
cfu/lesion) from leaf lesions, typical of a compatible interaction (1) and isolated colonies were identified as the target by atpD sequencing (2). Koch's postulates have therefore been fully verified. This is the first report of the disease in Ivory Coast, a country which has been an internationally significant mango exporter (up to 15,000 tons per year) over the last two decades. A high disease incidence and severity were observed, outlining the need for implementing integrated pest management in mango groves and the production of disease-free nursery stock. This report further expands the distribution of the pathogen in West Africa after its first description from Ghana in 2011 (5) and subsequently in other neighboring countries. References: (1) N. Ah-You et al. Phytopathology 97:1568, 2007. (2) L. Bui Thi Ngoc et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 60:515, 2010. (3) L. Gagnevin and O. Pruvost. Plant Dis. 85:928, 2001. (4) O. Pruvost et al. J. Appl. Microbiol. 99:803, 2005. (5) O. Pruvost et al. Plant Dis. 95:774, 2011.
Bacterial Leaf Blight of rice (BLB) caused by
Xanthomonas oryzae
pv.
oryzae
(
Xoo
) is a major threat for food security in many rice growing countries including Burkina Faso, where the disease was ...first reported in the 1980’s. In line with the intensification of rice cultivation in West-Africa, BLB incidence has been rising for the last 15 years. West-African strains of
Xoo
differ from their Asian counterparts as they (i) are genetically distant, (ii) belong to new races and, (iii) contain reduced repertoires of Transcription Activator Like (TAL) effector genes. In order to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of
Xoo
populations in Burkina Faso, 177 strains were collected from 2003 to 2018 in three regions where BLB is occurring. Multilocus VNTR Analysis (MLVA-14) targeting 10 polymorphic loci discriminated 24 haplotypes and showed that
Xoo
populations were structured according to their geographical localization and year of collection. Considering their major role in
Xoo
pathogenicity, we assessed the TAL effector repertoires of the 177 strains upon RFLP-based profiling. Surprisingly, an important diversity was revealed with up to eight different RFLP patterns. Finally, comparing neutral vs.
tal
effector gene diversity allowed to suggest scenarios underlying the evolutionary dynamics of
Xoo
populations in Burkina Faso, which is key to rationally guide the deployment of durably resistant rice varieties against BLB in the country.
Les deux principaux axes de recherche definis les annees precedentes, a savoir l' etude du chancre bacterien des agrumes (Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri) et de la maladie des taches noires de la ...mangue (Xantomonas campestris pv. mangiferaeindicae), ont ete maintenus.
Bacterial canker of mango (or bacterial black spot) caused by Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae, is an economically important disease in tropical and subtropical areas (1). X. citri pv. ...mangiferaeindicae can cause severe infection on a wide range of mango cultivars and induces raised, angular, black leaf lesions, sometimes with a chlorotic halo. Fruit symptoms are black, star shaped, erumpent, and exude an infectious gum. A survey was conducted in Burkina Faso in May 2010 because budwood putatively associated with an outbreak of bacterial canker in Ghana had originated from Burkina Faso (3). Leaves and twigs with suspected bacterial canker lesions were collected from mango trees of the cvs. Amélie, Brooks, and Kent and from seedlings at five localities in Comoe and Houet provinces. Severe infections were observed on the sampled trees in Burkina Faso and leaf symptoms were typical of bacterial canker. Leaves were surface sterilized for 15 to 30 s with 70% ethanol, and nonpigmented, Xanthomonas-like bacterial colonies were isolated on KC semiselective agar medium (1). On the basis of an IS1595-ligation mediated PCR assay, 18 strains from Burkina Faso produced identical fingerprints and were identified as X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae (4). The haplotype for strains from Burkina Faso was identical to that reported from Ghana (3). Three strains from Burkina Faso (LH127-2, LH130-1, and LH131-1) were compared by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) with the type strain of X. citri and the pathotype strain of several X. citri pathovars, including pvs. anacardii and mangiferaeindicae, targeting the atpD, dnaK, efp, and gyrB genes (2). Nucleotide sequences were 100% identical to those of the pathotype strain of X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae, regardless of the gene assayed, but differed from any other X. citri pathovar assayed. Leaves of mango cv. Maison Rouge, taken from the youngest vegetative flush, were infiltrated (10 inoculation sites per leaf for three replicate leaves on different plants per bacterial strain) with the same three strains from Burkina Faso. Bacterial suspensions (approximately 1 × 10
CFU/ml) were prepared in 10 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.2) from 16-h-old solid cultures on YPG agar (7 g of yeast, 7 g of peptone, 7 g of glucose, and 18 g of agar per liter, pH 7.2). The negative control treatment consisted of three leaves infiltrated with sterile Tris buffer (10 sites per leaf). Plants were incubated in a growth chamber at 30 ± 1°C by day and 26 ± 1°C by night (12-h/12-h day/night cycle) at 80 ± 5% relative humidity. Typical symptoms of bacterial canker were observed for all assayed strains 1 week after inoculation; no symptoms were observed from negative control leaves. One month after inoculation, mean X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae populations ranging from 2 × 10
to 8 × 10
CFU/leaf lesion were recovered, which was typical of a compatible interaction (1). The origin of inoculum associated with the bacterial canker outbreak in Burkina Faso is unknown. This report documents severe infections in Burkina Faso (including premature fruit drop due to severe fruit infections) and confirms the presence of bacterial canker in western Africa. A more extensive survey for the disease should be conducted in this region. References: (1) N. Ah-You et al. Phytopathology 97:1568, 2007. (2) L. Bui Thi Ngoc et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 60:515, 2010. (3) O. Pruvost et al. Plant Dis. 95:774, 2011. (4) O. Pruvost et al. Phytopathology 101:887, 2011.
Bacterial canker (or black spot) of mango caused by Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae is an important disease in tropical and subtropical areas (1). X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae can cause ...severe infection in a wide range of mango cultivars and induces raised, angular, black leaf lesions, sometimes with a chlorotic halo. Severe leaf infection may result in abscission. Fruit symptoms appear as small, water-soaked spots on the lenticels that later become star shaped, erumpent, and exude an infectious gum. Often, a "tear stain" infection pattern is observed on the fruit. Severe fruit infections cause premature drop. Twig cankers are potential sources of inoculum and weaken branch resistance to winds. Yield loss up to 85% has been reported at grove scale for susceptible cultivars (1). Suspected leaf lesions of bacterial canker were collected in July 2010 from mango trees in four, six, and three localities of the Koulikoro, Sikasso, and Bougouni provinces of Mali, respectively (i.e., the major mango-growing areas in this country). Nonpigmented Xanthomonas-like colonies were isolated on KC semiselective medium (3). Twenty-two strains from Mali were identified as X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae based on IS1595-ligation-mediated PCR (4) and they produced fingerprints fully identical to that of strains isolated from Ghana and Burkina Faso. Five Malian strains (LH409, LH410, LH414, LH415-3, and LH418) were compared by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) to the type strain of X. citri and the pathotype strain of several X. citri pathovars, including pvs. anacardii and mangiferaeindicae. This assay targeted the atpD, dnaK, efp, and gyrB genes, as described previously (2). Nucleotide sequences were 100% identical to those of the pathotype strain of X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae whatever the gene assayed, but differed from any other assayed X. citri pathovar. Leaves of mango cv. Maison Rouge from the youngest vegetative flush were infiltrated (10 inoculation sites per leaf for three replicate leaves on different plants per bacterial strain) with the same five strains from Mali. Bacterial suspensions (~1 × 10
CFU/ml) were prepared in 10 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.2) from 16-h-old cultures on YPGA (7 g of yeast, 7 g of peptone, 7 g of glucose, and 18 g of agar/liter, pH 7.2). The negative control treatment consisted of three leaves infiltrated with sterile Tris buffer (10 sites per leaf). Plants were incubated in a growth chamber at 30 ± 1°C by day and 26 ± 1°C by night (12-h/12-h day/night cycle) at 80 ± 5% relative humidity. All leaves inoculated with the Malian strains showed typical symptoms of bacterial canker a week after inoculation. No lesions were recorded from the negative controls. One month after inoculation, mean X. citri pv. mangiferaeindicae population sizes ranging from 5 × 10
to 1 × 10
CFU/lesion were recovered from leaf lesions, typical of a compatible interaction (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of the disease in Mali. Investigations from local growers suggest that the disease may have been present for some years in Mali but likely less than a decade. A high disease incidence and severity were observed, suggesting the suitability of environmental conditions in this region for the development of mango bacterial canker. References: (1) N. Ah-You et al. Phytopathology 97:1568, 2007. (2) L. Bui Thi Ngoc et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 60:515, 2010. (3) O. Pruvost et al. J. Appl. Microbiol. 99:803, 2005. (4) O. Pruvost et al. Phytopathology 101:887, 2011.
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