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What is spiroplasma in plant pathology?

What is spiroplasma in plant pathology?

Spiroplasma citri is the causative agent of Citrus stubborn disease, a plant disease affecting species in the genus Citrus. It infects the phloem of the affected plant, causing fruit deformities.

Which disease causes stunting in maize?

Corn stunt disease results in severely stunted plants that often produce multiple small ears with loose and/or missing kernels. This disease is caused by Spiroplasma kunkelii, commonly known as the corn stunt spiroplasma (CSS).

Does spiroplasma have a cell wall?

Spiroplasma is a unique bacterium without a cell wall, which possesses a definite helical shape and is motile. Despite the absence of a cell wall, it utilizes the cytoskeletal elements such as MreB and FtsZ, like cell-walled bacteria, for physiological processes such as cell elongation, cell division and motility.

What is the symptoms of rust?

Symptoms

  • Pale leaf spots eventually develop into spore-producing structures called pustules.
  • The pustules are found most commonly on the lower leaf surface and produce huge numbers of microscopic spores.
  • Pustules can be orange, yellow, brown, black or white.
  • In some cases there may be dozens of pustules on a single leaf.

What is fastidious vascular bacteria?

Another group of bacterial pathogens are difficult or impossible to culture in the laboratory and are called fastidious vascular bacteria. They grow in either the xylem or phloem tissues and interfere with the transport of water and nutrients in the plant.

How do blight affect trees?

Blighted leaves eventually brown and die but remain attached to the tree. New growth exhibits a dramatic downward wilting at the tips. Clear amber liquid may be found oozing from diseased twigs. This liquid is highly charged with the bacterium, which causes the disease.

What causes bunchy top in papaya?

Although bunchy top was originally thought to be caused by a virus, the disease is most likely caused by a mycoplasma-like organism (MLO).

Are mycoplasma bacteria?

Mycoplasma is a bacteria (or germ) that can infect different parts of your body.

What is the difference between phytoplasma and bacteria?

Phytoplasmas, previously called mycoplasma-like organisms (MLO), are unculturable, phloem-limited insect-transmitted plant pathogens. These small prokaryotes are related to bacteria and belong to the class Mollicutes (Seemüller et al. 1998). In contrast to bacteria, phytoplasmas do not have a rigid cell wall.

Which rust disease is caused by?

Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales). An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus Puccinia, are currently accepted.

What are the symptoms of Spiroplasma citri virus?

Effects of infection with a spiroplasma virus on the symptoms produced by Spiroplasma citri. Annals of Applied Biology, 101 (1), 85-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1982.tb00803.x Allen, R. M., Donndelinger, C. R., 1982. Cultivation in vitro of spiroplasmas from six plant hosts and two leafhopper vectors in Arizona.

What kind of disease can Spiroplasma mirum cause?

A few species, notably Spiroplasma mirum, grow well at 37 °C (human body temperature), and cause cataracts and neurological damage in suckling mice. The best studied species of spiroplasmas are Spiroplasma citri, the causative agent of citrus stubborn disease, and Spiroplasma kunkelii, the causative agent of corn stunt disease.

What should you do if you have a spiroplasma?

If spiroplasmas appear to be unhealthy, alternate cell lines or media formulations should be tried. To develop new cell line–medium combinations, a useful strategy is to add small amounts of medium supplement (1:3 to 1:5) to existing cell cultures, so as to allow adaptation of the insect cells to a new environment.

What kind of insects have Spiroplasma in them?

Beyond Drosophila, Spiroplasma of the apis, chrysopicola, citri, mirum, and poulsonii clades are found in many insects and arthropods, including bees, ants, beetles, and butterflies. Male-killing is also found in the Spiroplasma of the ladybug Harmonia axyridis and the plain tiger butterfly.