Specificity of Monoclonal Antibodies to Strains ofDickeyasp. that Cause Bacterial Heart Rot of Pineapple

Abstract

During a severe outbreak of bacterial heart rot that occurred in pineapple plantations on Oahu, Hawaii, in 2003 and years following, 43 bacterial strains were isolated from diseased plants or irrigation water and identified as Erwinia chrysanthemi (now Dickeya sp.) by phenotypic, molecular, and pathogenicity assays. Rep-PCR fingerprint patterns grouped strains from pineapple plants and irrigation water into five genotypes (A-E) that differed from representatives of other Dickeya species, Pectobacterium carotovorum and other enteric saprophytes isolated from pineapple. Monoclonal antibodies produced following immunization of mice with virulent type C Dickeya sp. showed only two specificities. MAb Pine-1 (2D11G1, IgG1 with kappa light chain) reacted to all 43 pineapple/water strains and some reference strains (D. dianthicola, D. chrysanthemi, D. paradisiaca, some D. dadantii, and uncharacterized Dickeya sp.) but did not react to reference strains of D. dieffenbachiae, D. zeae, or one of the two Malaysian pineapple strains. MAb Pine-2 (2A7F2, IgG3 with kappa light chain) reacted to all type B, C, and D strains but not to any A or E strains or any reference strains except Dickeya sp. isolated from Malaysian pineapple. Pathogenicity tests showed that type C strains were more aggressive than type A strains when inoculated during cool months. Therefore, MAb Pine-2 distinguishes the more virulent type C strains from less virulent type A pineapple strains and type E water strains. MAbs with these two specificities enable development of rapid diagnostic tests that will distinguish the systemic heart rot pathogen from opportunistic bacteria associated with rotted tissues. Use of the two MAbs in field assays also permits the monitoring of a known subpopulation and provides additional decision tools for disease containment and management practices.

Phylogeny and classification of Dickeya based on multilocus sequence analysis

“…Monoclonal antibody reactivity patterns for most pineapple strains were identical to a reference strain isolated from pineapple in Malaysia ( Dickeya sp. ), whereas other pineapple strains from Hawaii had reactivity patterns like those of D. dadantii , D. dianthicola , D. paradisiaca , D. chrysanthemi and D. zeae (Peckham et al , 2010). Rep-PCR fingerprint patterns and genetic characteristics of the pineapple strains did not match any of the named Dickeya species, thus precluding species identification (W. K. Sueno, unpublished data; Marrero, 2010).…”

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Profiling of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) Transporter Gene Family in Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) Reveal the Role of AcABCG38 in Pollen Development

“…Pineapple is usually diploid (2n = 50) and the haploid genome size is estimated to be 526 Mb ( Arumuganathan and Earle, 1991 ). In agriculture production, pineapple planting is impeded by abiotic and/or biotic factors, such as cold, fusarium wilt, and other diseases ( Pujol and Kado, 2000 ; Peckham et al, 2010 ; Wang et al, 2014 ; Santos et al, 2016 ). In addition, pineapple is one of the self-incompatible species, and cultivated mostly by vegetative propagation.…”

Fruit collapse incidence and quality of pineapple as affected by biopesticides based on Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma harzianum

“…Pineapple diseases are common problem affecting fruit quality, with infections usually beginning in the field and before harvest (Rohrbach and Johnson, 2003;Sipes and Pires de Matos, 2018). Fruit collapse is caused by the bacterium Dickeya zeae (formerly Erwinia chrysanthemi (Peckham et al, 2010;Sueno et al, 2014), which is characterized by exudation of sap and gas in the form of bubbles, an olive-green skin color and cavities within the skeletal fibers that show up in the flesh of the fruit (Aeny et al, 2020;Cano-Reinoso et al, 2021). D. zeae can infect the plant via infection vectors coming from the field, such as already infected plants, ants, beetles, and flies that attack during flower induction, or directly affecting the developed fruit when high temperatures weeks before harvest increase transpiration and allow the bacterium to penetrate directly through the stomata of the skin (Pires de Matos, 2019;Cano-reinoso et al, 2021).…”