Plant responses involved in cold temperature suppression of Xylella fastidiosa in grapevine

Authors: Burbank, Lindsey

Submitted to: Molecular Plant Microbe International Symposium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/2019
Publication Date: 7/17/2019
Citation: Burbank, L.P. 2019. Plant responses involved in cold temperature suppression of Xylella fastidiosa in grapevine. Molecular Plant Microbe International Symposium. Presented at the Molecular Plant Microbe International Symposium, July 14-18, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) colonizes a wide range of host plants and has emerged as a threat to agricultural crops worldwide. Climate factors impact both the pathogen and its insect vectors, limiting diseases caused by Xf to warmer regions. In the case of Pierce’s disease of grapevine, Xf can be eliminated from infected plants over the winter, a phenomenon that has been associated with reduced disease severity in colder regions. The molecular basis for reduced pathogen colonization following cold stress is poorly understood but is likely a combination of bacterial vulnerability to cold shock, host plant physiological response, and degree of pathogen colonization prior to winter temperature exposure. The cellular response of Xf to cold stress appears to be limited. Two cold shock protein homologs have been identified in a grape strain of Xf, but both are expressed independent of temperature. A peptide derived from the Xf cold shock protein Csp1 however, induces production of reactive oxygen species in grape tissue from a susceptible variety of Vitis vinifera suggesting it can act as an elicitor of plant innate defense response. Cultivar dependent differences in Xf survival and disease reoccurrence also were identified by artificial inoculations followed by cold treatment. Further understanding of how plant physiological response contributes to temperature-dependent elimination of Xf infections is important as it relates to climate factors associated with disease spread.