Genetic diversity and dissemination strategies in Xanthomonas translucens pv. translucens populations
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Date
2024-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Xanthomonas translucens, the bacterium responsible for Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) in barley, is a reemerging pathogen growing in concern for barley production in North America. Phylogenetic research has exposed the intricate genetic diversity within Xanthomonas translucens pv. translucens classifying it into three subgroups: K0, K1, and K2. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the distribution of the subgroups within the population. According to studies in the 1980s, X. translucens pv. translucens possesses ice nucleation activity (INA), which plays an important role in bacterial dispersal, particularly through cloud systems and precipitation. Ice-nucleating proteins like InaZ, allow bacteria to act as ice crystal centers in supercooled water droplets within clouds, enabling long-distance dispersal via atmospheric processes and precipitation. Early evidence suggests that the K0 subgroup of X. translucens pv. translucens exhibits disruptions in their INA, restricting transmission to local regions rather than long-range dispersal through aerial systems. To assess the distribution of X. translucens pv. translucens subgroups and INA positive and negative variants within the population, a systematic survey was conducted. Barley leaf samples displaying BLB symptoms were collected from Idaho barley fields during the summers of 2022 and 2023. X. translucens pv. translucens isolates were successfully obtained and typed into genetic subgroups using a novel multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) through this effort. The project had a two-fold objective: firstly, to investigate the population dynamics between the two seasons of isolation, and secondly, to examine the distribution of INA across subgroups within this population. Understanding the population distributions of X. translucens pv. translucens and their corresponding dissemination strategies can provide insight into the evolutionary history of this pathogen alongside the factors driving its dispersal and adaptation.
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Keywords
populations, Xanthomonas translucens, ice nucleation, transmission, multiplex PCR, Bacterial leaf blight, subgroups