Weedy rice is a serious problem in Uruguayan rice fields since intensification of rice production started about 10 years ago. The genetic diversity of 26 weedy accessions of weedy rice and 6 Uruguayan cultivars were analyzed using AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphisms) methodology. Abundant polymorphisms were found among samples tested. Using different methods of analysis three groups of samples were revealed. A relationship was found between three groups and morphological traits. One group had a black hull, purple apex and long awn (wild type traits) while another group had straw hull and apex, and short or no awn (domestication traits). The third group included the cultivars analyzed and some weedy rice samples. The weedy rice in this third group is presumed to most closely mimic cultivated rice and may have recently evolved. The results suggest that weedy rice adapts either to the natural environment or to cultivation. The former type with black hull and long awn may be easy to control because it can easily be seen. The later group may be difficult to control, particularly since the weedy rices within the cluster consisting of cultivars suggest that weedy rices are continually evolving in Uruguayan rice fields. The AFLP technique is very effective for assessing genetic diversity within weedy rice and will be very useful for fingerprinting of local cultivars of rice.

We have described here a safe alternative technique for loop ileostomy with negligible complications related to construction as demonstrated in our results.

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Several isolates of a novel begomovirus were characterized from tomato samples collected in northern Uruguay exhibiting disease symptoms associated with Bemisia tabaci infestations. Analysis of full-length sequences of DNA-A and DNA-B components revealed the presence of a new begomovirus with the typical genome organization of a New World begomovirus, for which the name tomato rugose yellow leaf curl virus (ToRYLCV) is proposed. A high degree of nucleotide sequence diversity was found for both components, suggesting the presence of a diverse virus population. Recombination analysis suggested relationships of ToRYLCV to begomoviruses reported from the New World. Although common regions from DNA-As and DNA-Bs were surprisingly divergent for a cognate pair, a DNA-A and DNA-B pair cloned from one sample were infectious in Nicotiana benthamiana and tomato and reproduced symptoms observed in field-infected tomato plants, suggesting that ToRYLCV is the causal agent of the disease observed. This is the first report of a begomovirus infecting tomato crops in Uruguay and of the presence of begomovirus in this country.

Xylella fastidiosa inhabits the plant xylem, a nutrient-poor environment, so that mechanisms to sense and respond to adverse environmental conditions are extremely important for bacterial survival in the plant host. Although the complete genome sequences of different Xylella strains have been determined, little is known about stress responses and gene regulation in these organisms. In this work, a DNA microarray was constructed containing 2,600 ORFs identified in the genome sequencing project of Xylella fastidiosa 9a5c strain, and used to check global gene expression differences in the bacteria when it is infecting a symptomatic and a tolerant citrus tree. Different patterns of expression were found in each variety, suggesting that bacteria are responding differentially according to each plant xylem environment. The global gene expression profile was determined and several genes related to bacterial survival in stressed conditions were found to be differentially expressed between varieties, suggesting the involvement of different strategies for adaptation to the environment. The expression pattern of some genes related to the heat shock response, toxin and detoxification processes, adaptation to atypical conditions, repair systems as well as some regulatory genes are discussed in this paper. DNA microarray proved to be a powerful technique for global transcriptome analyses. This is one of the first studies of Xylella fastidiosa gene expression in vivo which helped to increase insight into stress responses and possible bacterial survival mechanisms in the nutrient-poor environment of xylem vessels.