Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on November 23, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany 2007 58(15-16):4037-4046; doi:10.1093/jxb/erm260
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
58/15-16/4037    most recent
erm260v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gambetta, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Matthews, M. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gambetta, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Matthews, M. A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Gambetta, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Matthews, M. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Leaf scorch symptoms are not correlated with bacterial populations during Pierce's disease

G. A. Gambetta1, J. Fei2, T. L. Rost2 and M. A. Matthews1,*

1Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
2Section of Plant Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mamatthews{at}ucdavis.edu

Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is a xylem-limited bacterium that lives as a harmless endophyte in most plant species but is pathogenic in several agriculturally important crops such as coffee, citrus, and grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). In susceptible cultivars of grapevine, Xf infection results in leaf scorch, premature leaf senescence, and eventually vine death; a suite of symptoms collectively referred to as Pierce's disease. A qPCR assay was developed to determine bacterial concentrations in planta and these concentrations were related to the development of leaf-scorch symptoms. The concentration of Xf in leaves of experimental grapevines grown in the greenhouse was similar to the concentration of Xf in leaves of naturally infected plants in the field. The distribution of Xf was patchy within and among leaves. Some whole leaves exhibited severe leaf-scorch symptoms in the absence of high concentrations of Xf. Despite a highly sensitive assay and a range of Xf concentrations from 102 to 109 cells g–1 fresh weight, no clear relationship between bacterial population and symptom development during Pierce's disease was revealed. Thus, high and localized concentrations of Xf are not necessary for the formation of leaf-scorch symptoms. The results are interpreted as being consistent with an atiology that involves a systemic plant response.

Key words: Bacterial wilt, disease resistance, pathogenesis, water deficits

Received 6 August 2007; Revised 25 September 2007 Accepted 27 September 2007


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
A. J. McElrone, S. Jackson, and P. Habdas
Hydraulic disruption and passive migration by a bacterial pathogen in oak tree xylem
J. Exp. Bot., July 1, 2008; 59(10): 2649 - 2657.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.