Huanglongbing (HLB) constitutes the most destructive disease of citrus worldwide, yet no established efficient management measures exist for it. Brassinosteroids, a family of plant steroidal compounds, are essential for plant growth, development and stress tolerance. As a possible control strategy for HLB, epibrassinolide was applied to as a foliar spray to citrus plants infected with the causal agent of HLB, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’. The bacterial titers were reduced after treatment with epibrassinolide under both greenhouse and field conditions but were stronger in the greenhouse. Known defense genes were induced in leaves by epibrassinolide. With the SuperSAGE technology combined with next generation sequencing, induction of genes known to be associated with defense response to bacteria and hormone transduction pathways were identified. The results demonstrate that epibrassinolide may provide a useful tool for the management of HLB.

No abstract

No abstract

Black leaf streak disease (BLSD) caused by Mycosphaerella fijiensis is considered the most destructive and costly foliar disease that affects bananas and plantains. In spite of some recent progress regarding the study of M. fijiensis-Musa spp. interaction, there is still limited information for this pathosystem. To gain insights into the molecular mechanisms behind the M. fijiensis-Musa spp. interaction, gene expression and biochemical analysis related with primary metabolism, methyl cycle, antioxidant and phenylpropanoid pathways were conducted. Early screening of the resistant cultivar (cv.) 'Calcutta 4' (Musa AA) and the susceptible cv. 'Grande naine' (Musa AAA) plants infected with M. fijiensis was effective at looking for defense-related genes. Quantitative PCR experiments showed up-regulation of Photosystem I reaction center subunit N chloroplastic-like (primary metabolism) and S-adenosyl-L-methionine synthetaste (methyl cycle) genes in the incompatible interaction, as well as down-regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway genes in the susceptible cv. 'Grande naine' as main finding of this study. Improved knowledge concerning the M. fijiensis-Musa spp. interaction could help to establish innovative approaches for plant breeding programs against BLSD.

After 10 years of evaluation in different locations with high levels of incidence of disease, a group of sugarcane somaclones derived from callus tissues was selected for eyespot resistance. Resistance evaluations of four somaclones were performed under field and laboratory conditions. The results confirmed the superiority of two somaclones, one resistant and one tolerant to eyespot disease. Restriction analysis of mitochondrial DNA revealed that the two somaclones had a difl'erent DNA organization which distinguished them both from each other and from the donor plant; the restriction profile was similar however to that of the resistant control done. Restriction patterns of a third somaclone, also resistant, were similar to those of the donor plant. Difl"erences among the somaclones were also evident when using a maize ribosomal DNA probe.