Identification and characterization of bacteria isolated from crown galls on stone fruits in Poland

Abstract

Eighty stone fruit nurseries located in different regions of Poland were examined for the presence of crown gall affected plants. The disease was observed in 39 nurseries, and galls were sampled for bacterial isolation. Out of 1213 isolates, 409 were pre-identified as Agrobacterium/Rhizobium spp. with 23S rDNA-based multiplex PCR, and out of these, 315 were pathogenic when tested on sunflowers. Sequence analysis of three housekeeping genes (fusA, recA, rpoD) revealed that 366 strains belonged to Rhizobium rhizogenes, 23 to Agrobacterium tumefaciens species complex, and the rest of the strains were allocated to new phylogenetic lineages. Of these, the most numerous was the lineage allocated in the Pararhizobium genus. Positive results obtained from pathogenicity tests were generally in agreement with results obtained by PCR with primers complementary to T-DNA except for two strains, which were positive for PCR but negative for the pathogenicity test. All detected Ti plasmids were nopaline-type. Independent of their pathogenicity, 59% of tested strains were not sensitive to agrocin 84 in in vitro tests. Analysis of biochemical and physiological features distinguished 50 groups with different phenotypic profiles, but the tested traits were not consistent for strains classified to one taxon. This finding shows limited value of biochemical tests in identification procedures. The bacteria causing tumours were heterogeneous and strains classified to different taxa were found even in a single tumour.

Rhizobium tumorigenes sp. nov., a novel plant tumorigenic bacterium isolated from cane gall tumors on thornless blackberry

“…Moreover, biochemical tests were of limited value for classification and differentiation of some Rhizobiaceae species as indicated by Puławska, et al . 21 .…”

Susceptibility of Serbian plum cultivars to indigenous bacterial and Monilinia laxa isolates

“…The obtained data indicate that known phytopathogens should be tested for pathogenicity on plants from whose microbiome they were isolated, regardless of the phytopathogen's primary host. Rhizobium nepotum, a species known to cause crown gall on leaves of plum and other species of the genus Prunus (Puławska et al 2016), was also tested. The Požegača, Rodna and Ranka cultivars showed moderate susceptibility to R. nepotum.…”

Evolutionary Relatedness and Classification of Tumor-Inducing and Opine-Catabolic Plasmids in Three Rhizobium rhizogenes Strains Isolated from the Same Crown Gall Tumor

“…Two tumorigenic (C5.7 and C6.5) and one nonpathogenic (Colt5.8, also reported as C5.8, Puławska et al. 2016) strains were used in this study.…”

“…All three strains were isolated from the same crown gall tumor on “Colt” cherry rootstock in Poland in 2008. They were previously identified as R. rhizogenes , while their tumor-inducing (Ti) ability was tested by PCR analysis and a pathogenicity assay on sunflower seedlings (Puławska et al. 2016).…”