Pseudomonas fluorescens isolates containing the phlD gene can protect crops from root pathogens, at least in part through production of the antibiotic 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG). However, the action mechanisms of DAPG are not fully understood, and effects of this antibiotic on host root systems have not been characterized in detail. DAPG inhibited primary root growth and stimulated lateral root production in tomato seedlings. Roots of the auxin-resistant diageotropica mutant of tomato demonstrated reduced DAPG sensitivity with regards to inhibition of primary root growth and induction of root branching. Additionally, applications of exogenous DAPG, at concentrations previously found in the rhizosphere of plants inoculated with DAPG-producing pseudomonads, inhibited the activation of an auxin-inducible GH3 promoter::luciferase reporter gene construct in transgenic tobacco hypocotyls. In this model system, supernatants of 17 phlD+ P. fluorescens isolates had inhibitory effects on luciferase activity similar to synthetic DAPG. In addition, a phlD() mutant strain, unable to produce DAPG, demonstrated delayed inhibitory effects compared with the parent wild-type strain. These results indicate that DAPG can alter crop root architecture by interacting with an auxin-dependent signaling pathway.

Orchard management practices, such as destroying of overwintered inoculum and limiting the number of fungicide applications, are often recommended as tactics for slowing the development of resistance to sterol demethylation-inhibitor (DMI) fungicides in populations of Venturia inaequalis. However, there is little quantitative evidence relating the use of such practices to levels of resistance in orchards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of V. inaequalis isolates from Pennsylvania to DMI fungicides, and to identify orchard management factors related to the incidence of resistant isolates. In total, 644 single-spore V. inaequalis cultures obtained from 20 apple orchards in 2008 or 2009 were tested for sensitivity to myclobutanil, fenbuconazole, or difenoconazole. Growers provided management history of the sampled plots. Widespread shifts toward resistance to the three fungicides were noted, with mean effective concentration for 50% inhibition (EC(50)) values of 2.136, 0.786, and 0.187 μg/ml for myclobutanil, fenbuconazole, and difenoconazole, respectively. Cross resistance to the three fungicides was documented in high correlation (Spearman's r > 0.6) between mean EC(50) values for 14 orchards. Based on a 0.5-μg/ml threshold, 66 and 26% of isolates were resistant to myclobutanil and fenbuconazole, respectively, and 22% were cross resistant to the two fungicides. A significant between-year shift toward increased resistance was noted in two of three orchards surveyed in both years. Failure to use dormant copper sprays, older trees, larger orchards, orchards with ≤10 cultivars, and application of >4 DMI sprays were positively correlated (0.0001 < P < 0.05) with the incidence of resistant isolates. Isolates from orchards with >4 DMI sprays were four times as likely to be resistant to fenbuconazole (odds ratio = 4.57; P = 0.015). Isolates from orchards without dormant copper sprays were twice as likely to be cross-shifted toward resistance to all three fungicides (odds ratio = 1.76; P = 0.048). Results identify management practices that can reduce the risk of V. inaequalis developing resistance to DMI fungicides.

RpoN is a σ(54) factor regulating essential virulence gene expression in several plant pathogenic bacteria, including Pseudomonas syringae and Pectobacterium carotovorum. In this study, we found that mutation of rpoN in the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora caused a nonpathogenic phenotype. The E. amylovora rpoN Tn5 transposon mutant rpoN1250::Tn5 did not cause fire blight disease symptoms on shoots of mature apple trees. In detached immature apple fruits, the rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant failed to cause fire blight disease symptoms and grew to population levels 12 orders of magnitude lower than the wild-type. In addition, the rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant failed to elicit a hypersensitive response when infiltrated into nonhost tobacco plant leaves, and rpoN1250::Tn5 cells failed to express HrpN protein when grown in hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity)-inducing liquid medium. A plasmid-borne copy of the wild-type rpoN gene complemented all the rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant phenotypes tested. The rpoN1250::Tn5 mutant was prototrophic on minimal solid and liquid media, indicating that the rpoN1250::Tn5 nonpathogenic phenotype was not caused by a defect in basic metabolism or growth. This study provides clear genetic evidence that rpoN is an essential virulence gene of E. amylovora, suggesting that rpoN has the same function in E. amylovora as in P. syringae and Pe. carotovorum.

Erwinia amylovora bacteria cause fire blight disease, which affects apple and pear production worldwide. The Erw. amylovora pyrC gene encodes a predicted dihydroorotase enzyme involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis. Here, we discovered that the Erw. amylovora pyrC244::Tn5 mutant was a uracil auxotroph. Unexpectedly, the Erw. amylovora pyrC244::Tn5 mutant grew as well as the wild-type in detached immature apple and pear fruits. Fire blight symptoms caused by the pyrC244::Tn5 mutant in immature apple and pear fruits were attenuated compared to those caused by the wild-type. The pyrC244::Tn5 mutant also caused severe fire blight symptoms in apple tree shoots. A plasmid-borne copy of the wild-type pyrC gene restored prototrophy and symptom induction in apple and pear fruit to the pyrC244::Tn5 mutant. These results suggest that Erw. amylovora can obtain sufficient pyrimidine from the host to support bacterial growth and fire blight disease development, although de novo pyrimidine synthesis by Erw. amylovora is required for full symptom development in fruits. Significance and impact of the study: This study provides information about the fire blight host-pathogen interaction. Although the Erwinia amylovora pyrC mutant was strictly auxotrophic for pyrimidine, it grew as well as the wild-type in immature pear and apple fruits and caused severe fire blight disease in apple trees. This suggests that Erw. amylovora can obtain sufficient pyrimidines from host tissue to support growth and fire blight disease development. This situation contrasts with findings in some human bacterial pathogens, which require de novo pyrimidine synthesis for growth in host blood, for example.

Azoxystrobin is the only synthetic, systemic fungicide labeled in the United States for management of frogeye leaf spot (FLS) of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), caused by Cercospora nicotianae. Though traditionally considered a minor disease in the United States, FLS has recently become yield and quality limiting. In 2016 and 2017, 100 C. nicotianae isolates were collected from symptomatic tobacco from eight counties in Kentucky, United States. Prior to azoxystrobin sensitivity testing, some C. nicotianae isolates were found to utilize the alternative oxidase pathway and, after assay comparisons, conidial germination was utilized to evaluate sensitivity in C. nicotianae as opposed to mycelial growth. Azoxystrobin sensitivity was determined by establishing the effective concentration to inhibit 50% conidial germination (EC50) for 47 (in 2016) and 53 (in 2017) C. nicotianae isolates. Distributions of C. nicotianae EC50 values indicated three qualitative levels of sensitivity to azoxystrobin. Partial cytochrome b sequence, encompassing the F129L and G143A mutation sites, indicated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) conferring the F129L mutation in C. nicotianae of moderate resistance (azoxystrobin at 0.177 ≤ EC50 ≤ 0.535 µg/ml) and the G143A mutation in isolates with an azoxystrobin-resistant phenotype (azoxystrobin EC50 > 1.15 µg/ml). Higher frequencies of resistant isolates were identified from greenhouse transplant (4 of 17) and conventionally produced (58 of 62) tobacco samples, as compared with field-grown tobacco (<4 weeks prior to harvest; 4 of 62) or organically produced samples (1 of 7), respectively. Together, these results suggest that resistance to azoxystrobin in C. nicotianae occurs broadly in Kentucky, and generate new hypotheses about selection pressure affecting resistance mutation frequencies.