Phytoplasmas and their interactions with hosts

• Published in: Trends in plant science Vol. 10; no. 11; pp. 526 - 535
• Main Authors: Christensen, Nynne M., Axelsen, Kristian B., Nicolaisen, Mogens, Schulz, Alexander
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; carbohydrate metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities. Disease free stocks; genome; Genome, Bacterial; H-transporting ATP synthase; host-pathogen relationships; insect vectors; literature reviews; membrane potential; Membrane Potentials; phloem; Phylogeny; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Phytoplasma; Phytoplasma - genetics; Phytoplasma - pathogenicity; Phytoplasma - physiology; phytoplasmal diseases; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plants - microbiology; sugars; uptake mechanisms; Phloem; Gene; ATP; Cell wall
• ISSN: 1360-1385; 1878-4372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2005.09.008

Phytoplasmas are bacteria without cell walls and are responsible for plant diseases that have large economic impacts. Knowledge of their biology is limited because they are uncultivable and experimentally inaccessible in their hosts. It is a mystery how these bacteria use the sugar-rich phloem sap in which they live and how they interact with the host. This makes it difficult to develop means to control them. Recently, the full genomes of two phytoplasmas have been sequenced, allowing new insights into their requirements. Phytoplasmas contain a minimal genome and lack genes coding for ATP synthases and sugar uptake and use, making them dependent on their host. This dependency can be exploited to elucidate the particular physiology of the phloem.