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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #348587
Research Project: Genome-Based Strategies and Physiological Biomarkers for Detection and Identification of plant Pathogenic Phytoplasmas and Spiroplasmas

Location: Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory

Title: Immunodominant proteins of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni’ and related strains classified in Group 16SrIII

Author
item Davis, Robert
item DALLY, ELLEN - Retired ARS Employee
item Zhao, Yan
item Wei, Wei

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Phytoplasmas comprise a clade of wall-less bacteria that inhabit phloem tissue of plants and are transmitted from plant-to-plant by phloem-feeding insect vectors. In infected plants, phytoplasmas induce disease symptoms largely by genetically reprogramming the fate of apical stem cells (the meristem). Currently, phytoplasmas are classified in groups and subgroups on the basis of RFLP profiles of 16S rRNA gene sequences. More variable gene sequences, including those encoding ribosomal proteins and the SecY protein, afford finer differentiation of closely related phytoplasmas. The 16S rRNA, rp, and secY genes have provided a useful framework for phytoplasma classification, but surface exposed membrane-bound proteins, which directly interact with host cells, may afford new insights into phytoplasma evolution. In the current work, we found that immunodominant membrane proteins (IDMPs) of group 16SrIII phytoplasmas provide genetic markers useful for understanding phytoplasma strain variability. The data support the concept that surface exposed membrane-bound proteins such as IDMPs play significant roles in phytoplasma-host interactions that influence the evolutionary trajectories and lineage radiation of the phytoplasmas.