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Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors
Phytoplasmas are obligate transkingdom bacterial parasites that infect a variety of plant species and replicate in phloem-feeding insects in the order Hemiptera, mainly leafhoppers (Cicadellidae). The insect capacity in acquisition, transmission, survival, and host range directly determines the epid...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002289/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33809759 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030352 |
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author | Wei, Wei Trivellone, Valeria Dietrich, Christopher H. Zhao, Yan Bottner-Parker, Kristi D. Ivanauskas, Algirdas |
author_facet | Wei, Wei Trivellone, Valeria Dietrich, Christopher H. Zhao, Yan Bottner-Parker, Kristi D. Ivanauskas, Algirdas |
author_sort | Wei, Wei |
collection | PubMed |
description | Phytoplasmas are obligate transkingdom bacterial parasites that infect a variety of plant species and replicate in phloem-feeding insects in the order Hemiptera, mainly leafhoppers (Cicadellidae). The insect capacity in acquisition, transmission, survival, and host range directly determines the epidemiology of phytoplasmas. However, due to the difficulty of insect sampling and the lack of follow-up transmission trials, the confirmed phytoplasma insect hosts are still limited compared with the identified plant hosts. Recently, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based quick screening of 227 leafhoppers collected in natural habitats unveiled the presence of previously unknown phytoplasmas in six samples. In the present study, 76 leafhoppers, including the six prescreened positive samples, were further examined to identify and characterize the phytoplasma strains by semi-nested PCR. A total of ten phytoplasma strains were identified in leafhoppers from four countries including South Africa, Kyrgyzstan, Australia, and China. Based on virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, these ten phytoplasma strains were classified into four distinct ribosomal (16Sr) groups (16SrI, 16SrIII, 16SrXIV, and 16SrXV), representing five new subgroups (16SrI-AO, 16SrXIV-D, 16SrXIV-E, 16SrXIV-F, and 16SrXV-C). The results strongly suggest that the newly identified phytoplasma strains not only represent new genetic subgroup lineages, but also extend previously undiscovered geographical distributions. In addition, ten phytoplasma-harboring leafhoppers belonged to seven known leafhopper species, none of which were previously reported insect vectors of phytoplasmas. The findings from this study provide fresh insight into genetic diversity, geographical distribution, and insect host range of phytoplasmas. Further transmission trials and screening of new potential host plants and weed reservoirs in areas adjacent to collection sites of phytoplasma harboring leafhoppers will contribute to a better understanding of phytoplasma transmission and epidemiology. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8002289 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80022892021-03-28 Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors Wei, Wei Trivellone, Valeria Dietrich, Christopher H. Zhao, Yan Bottner-Parker, Kristi D. Ivanauskas, Algirdas Pathogens Article Phytoplasmas are obligate transkingdom bacterial parasites that infect a variety of plant species and replicate in phloem-feeding insects in the order Hemiptera, mainly leafhoppers (Cicadellidae). The insect capacity in acquisition, transmission, survival, and host range directly determines the epidemiology of phytoplasmas. However, due to the difficulty of insect sampling and the lack of follow-up transmission trials, the confirmed phytoplasma insect hosts are still limited compared with the identified plant hosts. Recently, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based quick screening of 227 leafhoppers collected in natural habitats unveiled the presence of previously unknown phytoplasmas in six samples. In the present study, 76 leafhoppers, including the six prescreened positive samples, were further examined to identify and characterize the phytoplasma strains by semi-nested PCR. A total of ten phytoplasma strains were identified in leafhoppers from four countries including South Africa, Kyrgyzstan, Australia, and China. Based on virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, these ten phytoplasma strains were classified into four distinct ribosomal (16Sr) groups (16SrI, 16SrIII, 16SrXIV, and 16SrXV), representing five new subgroups (16SrI-AO, 16SrXIV-D, 16SrXIV-E, 16SrXIV-F, and 16SrXV-C). The results strongly suggest that the newly identified phytoplasma strains not only represent new genetic subgroup lineages, but also extend previously undiscovered geographical distributions. In addition, ten phytoplasma-harboring leafhoppers belonged to seven known leafhopper species, none of which were previously reported insect vectors of phytoplasmas. The findings from this study provide fresh insight into genetic diversity, geographical distribution, and insect host range of phytoplasmas. Further transmission trials and screening of new potential host plants and weed reservoirs in areas adjacent to collection sites of phytoplasma harboring leafhoppers will contribute to a better understanding of phytoplasma transmission and epidemiology. MDPI 2021-03-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8002289/ /pubmed/33809759 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030352 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ). |
spellingShingle | Article Wei, Wei Trivellone, Valeria Dietrich, Christopher H. Zhao, Yan Bottner-Parker, Kristi D. Ivanauskas, Algirdas Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors |
title | Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors |
title_full | Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors |
title_fullStr | Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors |
title_full_unstemmed | Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors |
title_short | Identification of Phytoplasmas Representing Multiple New Genetic Lineages from Phloem-Feeding Leafhoppers Highlights the Diversity of Phytoplasmas and Their Potential Vectors |
title_sort | identification of phytoplasmas representing multiple new genetic lineages from phloem-feeding leafhoppers highlights the diversity of phytoplasmas and their potential vectors |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002289/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33809759 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030352 |
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