Molecular identification and prevalence of Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae causing red stripe of sugarcane in China

Abstract

Red stripe caused by the bacterium Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae (Aaa) is a disease of sugarcane that is distributed worldwide. In this study, 108 sugarcane leaf samples were collected in 2013–2016 from nine sugarcane‐growing regions in China. Aaa was detected by PCR with specific and novel primers from the 16S–23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer region in 81 of 84 (96%) leaves with red stripe symptoms and in 20 of 24 (83%) leaves without symptoms. Furthermore, Aaa was detected in all nine sampling locations representing six sugarcane‐producing provinces in China. The 101 amplified fragments were cloned and sequenced. The size of the nucleotide sequences varied from 436 to 454 bp and the sequence identity ranged from 89.2% to 100%, suggesting a significant genetic variation among Aaa strains from China. Five major restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles were obtained by in silico and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses of the PCR products digested with HindIII and EcoRI. The causal agent of sugarcane red stripe was also successfully isolated from a diseased plant and its pathogenicity confirmed by inoculation of healthy sugarcane plantlets and reproduction of disease symptoms. The data showed that Aaa is currently widespread in China, suggesting that control methods should be implemented to limit the impact of red stripe on sugarcane production.

Global Gene Responses of Resistant and Susceptible Sugarcane Cultivars to Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae Identified Using Comparative Transcriptome Analysis

“…Buds from the two cultivars were germinated and cultured in a growth chamber at 28 • C and 60% humidity under 16/8 h light/dark photoperiod until the plants were approximately 15-20 cm tall (3-5 leaf stage). Eighteen plants of each cultivar were injected with a bacterial suspension (10 8 CFU/mL) of Aaa SC-026 following the protocol described by Li et al [11]. Another ten plants from each cultivar were injected with only sterile selective nutrient broth (NB) medium (10.0 g/L peptone, 3.0 g/L beef extract, and 5.0 g/L sodium chloride) and used as controls.…”

“…Sugarcane is subject to a diverse range of causal pathogens including Aaa [11][12][13]. In this study, we performed a RNA-seq-based comparative transcriptome analysis to assess expression changes in sugarcane genes in response to Aaa infection.…”

Development and Use of Single Sequence Repeats (SSRs) Markers for Sugarcane Breeding and Genetic Studies

“…Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a major global crop, not only required for the production of biofuels such as ethanol, but it also produces 80% of total dietary sugar globally [1], and 92% of the sugar consumed in China [2]. Modern cultivars exhibit complex aneu-polyploid genomes with chromosome numbers ranging from 100 to 130, and are inter-specific hybrids derived from crosses among S. barberi (2n = 111-120), S. officinarum (2n = 80, x = 10), S. robustum (2n = 60 and 80, x = 10), S. sinense (2n = 81-124), and S. spontaneum (2n = 40-128, x = 8) [3,4], constituting approximately 80% of S. officinarum, 10-15% of S. spontaneum, and 5-10% recombinant chromosomes [4].…”

Genome-wide characterization of cys-tathionine-β-synthase domain-containing proteins in sugarcane reveals their role in defense responses under multiple stressors

“…Among biotic stressors, the bacterial pathogen Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae ( Aaa ) that causes red stripe in sugarcane can lead to serious yield reduction and even plant death ( Li et al, 2018 ). Red stripe disease commonly occurs in main sugarcane-planting areas in China, with varying incidences ranging from 4 to 23% in cultivar FN38 ( Fu et al, 2017 ) and 8–80% in cultivar YZ03-194 ( Shan et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Modern sugarcane cultivars with an allo-autopolyploid genome contain chromosomes from S. officinarum (80%) and S. spontaneum (10%) (D'Hont et al, 1996), but the characteristics of stress response, disease resistance, and regeneration ability of these cultivars are derived from S. spontaneum (Garsmeur et al, 2018). To better understand features of the sugarcane genome, two reference genome sequences from the S. spontaneum clones AP85-441 (Zhang et al, 2018) and Np-X (Zhang et al, 2022) were assembled at the chromosome level, while three draft genome sequences from hybrid genotypes R570 (Garsmeur et al, 2018), SP80-3280 (Souza et al, 2019), and CC01-1940(Trujillo-Montenegro et al, 2021 were assembled at a non-chromosome level. These sugarcane genome sequences, particularly in AP85-441 and Np-X, are convenient for exploring how resistance genes are related to various stress responses in sugarcane.…”