Association of Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii with ChrysSA genus flea beetles in jackfruit crops

• Published in: Journal of plant pathology Vol. 103; no. 2; pp. 539 - 547
• Main Authors: Hernández-Morales, Alejandro, Soria-Guerra, Ruth Elena, Isiordia-Aquino, Néstor, Campos-Guillén, Juan, Pacheco-Aguilar, Juan Ramiro, Martínez-Rizo, Abril Bernardette, Arvizu-Gómez, Jackeline Lizzeta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-05-2021
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Life Sciences; Original Article; Plant Sciences; Fruit bronzing; Jackfruit; Insect; subsp
• ISSN: 1125-4653; 2239-7264
• DOI: 10.1007/s42161-021-00787-4

Pantoea stewartii
subsp.
stewartii
is the causal agent of the emerging disease in jackfruit crops (
Artocarpus heterophyllus
L.), known as "Fruit Bronzing". This disease affects the quality of fresh jackfruits, resulting in economic production losses. Thus far, the biology of the
P. stewartii
subsp.
stewartii
bacterium during the stages that make up the fruit bronzing disease´s cycle is poorly understood. Therefore, to gain further insight into this emerging disease, we evaluated the association between
P. stewartii
subsp
. stewartii
and the jackfruit flea beetle, which could be involved in the dissemination of this bacterium in this crop. Five bacterial isolates were obtained from two of the six groups of field-collected flea beetles (Group I and Group VI). Morphological characteristics and PCR amplification employing taxon-specific primers both indicated the isolates were
P. stewartii
subsp
. stewartii
. AG085-I, AG086-I, AG087-I, and AG088-I were isolated from Group I flea beetles, and AG024-VI was isolated from Group VI flea beetles. Molecular analysis results showed that Group I flea beetles correspond to
Chaetocnema minuta
, while that Group VI flea beetles correspond to the
ChrysSA
genus. Finally, the molecular identification of bacterial isolates by analysis of the
16S rDNA
and
cpsD
regions showed that the AG085-I, AG086-I, AG087-I, AG088-I isolates correspond to
P. ananatis
and only the AG024-VI isolate obtained from the Group VI flea beetles
ChrysSA
corresponds to
P. stewartii
subsp.
stewartii.
The AG024-VI isolate showed pathogenic potential against jackfruit. These results demonstrate the presence of
CrhysSA
sp. flea beetles associated with
P. stewartii
subsp
. stewartii
in jackfruit crops.