Tomato Roots (tomato + root)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Localized and Systemic Increase of Phenols in Tomato Roots Induced by Glomus versiforme Inhibits Ralstonia solanacearum

JOURNAL OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 10 2004
H. H. Zhu
Abstract Ralstonia solanacearum is an important plant pathogen in tropical and subtropical countries. Here, we describe the inhibition of R. solanacearum as a result of increased phenols induced locally or systemically by an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus. In pot cultures, R. solanacearum populations in the rhizosphere, on root surfaces and in the xylem were decreased by 26.7, 79.3 and 81.7%, respectively, following inoculation of tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) with Glomus versiforme Berch. Colonization of the plants by both R. solanacearum and G. versiforme increased the contents of soluble phenols and cell-wall bound phenols in root tissue, but with different patterns. Whereas R. solanacearum preferably promoted the cell-wall bound phenol content, G. versiforme preferably enhanced the soluble phenol content. Split root experiments revealed that R. Solanacearum was inhibited by G. versiforme, and that G. versiforme also increased the phenol content systemically, but to a lesser extent than locally. [source]


Chemotactic response of plant-growth-promoting bacteria towards roots of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal tomato plants

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2003
Sushma Gupta Sood
Abstract The chemotactic responses of the plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria Azotobacter chroococcum and Pseudomonas fluorescens to roots of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (Glomus fasciculatum) tomato plants were determined. A significantly (P=0.05) greater number of bacterial cells of wild strains were attracted towards vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal tomato roots compared to non-vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal tomato roots. Substances exuded by roots served as chemoattractants for these bacteria. P. fluorescens was strongly attracted towards citric and malic acids, which were predominant constituents in root exudates of tomato plants. A. chroococcum showed a stronger response towards sugars than amino acids, but the response was weakest towards organic acids. The effects of temperature, pH, and soil water matric potential on bacterial chemotaxis towards roots were also investigated. In general, significantly (P=0.05) greater chemotactic responses of bacteria were observed at higher water matric potentials (0, ,1, and ,5 kPa), slightly acidic to neutral pH (6, 6.5 and 7), and at 20,30°C (depending on the bacterium) than in other environmental conditions. It is suggested that chemotaxis of P. fluorescens and A. chroococcum towards roots and their exudates is one of the several steps in the interaction process between bacteria and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal roots. [source]


Transmission of Pepino mosaic virus by the Fungal Vector Olpidium virulentus

JOURNAL OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
Ana Alfaro-Fernández
Abstract Transmission of Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) by the fungal vector Olpidium virulentus was studied in two experiments. Two characterized cultures of the fungus were used as stock cultures for the assay: culture A was from lettuce roots collected in Castellón (Spain), and culture B was from tomato roots collected in Murcia (Spain). These fungal cultures were maintained in their original host and irrigated with sterile water. The drainage water collected from irrigating these stock cultures was used for watering PepMV-infected and non-infected tomato plants to constitute the acquisition,source plants of the assay, which were divided into six different plots: plants containing fungal culture A (non-infected and PepMV-infected); plants containing fungal culture B (non-infected and PepMV-infected); PepMV-infected plants without the fungus; and plants non-infected either with PepMV and the fungus. Thirty-six healthy plants grouped into six plots, which constituted the virus acquisition,transmission plants of the assay, were irrigated with different drainage waters obtained by watering the different plots of the acquisition,source plants. PepMV was only transmitted to plants irrigated with the drainage water collected from PepMV-infected plants whose roots contained the fungal culture B from tomato with a transmission rate of 8%. No infection was detected in plants irrigated with the drainage water collected from plots with only a fungus or virus infection. Both the virus and fungus were detected in water samples collected from the drainage water of the acquisition,source plants of the assay. These transmission assays demonstrated the possibility of PepMV transmission by O. virulentus collected from tomato crops. [source]


Ralstonia solanacearum requires type 4 pili to adhere to multiple surfaces and for natural transformation and virulence

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
Yaowei Kang
Summary As reported previously for Ralstonia solanacearum strain GMI1000, wild-type strains AW1 and K60 were shown to produce Hrp pili. AW1 and K60 mutants lacking Hrp pili still exhibited twitching motility, which requires type 4 pili (Tfp), and electron microscopy revealed that they still made flexuous polar pili. Twitching-positive cells had an extracellular 17 kDa protein that was associated with piliation, and an internal 43-amino-acid sequence of this protein was typical of type 4 pilins. This amino acid sequence is encoded by an open reading frame, designated pilA, in the genomic sequence of GMI1000. PilA is 46% identical to a Pseudomonas aeruginosa type 4 pilin over its entire length and has all the conserved residues and motifs characteristic of type 4 group A pilins. pilA mutants did not make the 17 kDa PilA protein and did not exhibit twitching motility. When compared with its parent, an AW1 pilA mutant was reduced in virulence on tomato plants and in autoaggregation and biofilm formation in broth culture. Unlike AW1, a pilA mutant did not exhibit polar attachment to tobacco suspension culture cells or to tomato roots; it was also not naturally competent for transformation. We reported previously that twitching motility ceases in maturing AW1 colonies and that inactivation of PhcA, a global transcriptional regulator, results in colonies that continue to exhibit twitching motility. Similarly, in broth culture, expression of a pilA::lacZ fusion in AW1 decreased 10-fold at high cell density, but expression remained high in a phcA mutant. In addition, pilA::lacZ expression was positively regulated 10-fold by PehR, a response regulator that is known to be repressed by PhcA. This signal cascade is sufficient to explain why pilA expression, and thus twitching motility, decreases at high cell densities. [source]


Studies on amoebae and cysts associated with the isolation of Spongospora subterranea f.sp. subterranea in vitro

PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
X.-S. Qu
New evidence is presented to support the contention that the amoeba/cyst colonies isolated from surface-sterilized Spongospora subterranea f.sp. subterranea -infected potato tubers and spore balls have a saprophytic phase but are contaminants and not S. subterranea. Amoebae isolated from infected tissues and spore balls formed colonies associated with bacteria on 1% water agar at 18°C and encysted after 5,7 days. These cysts were morphologically distinct from the resting spores of S. subterranea and were formed singly or in a layer, unlike the spore ball (cystosorus) of S. subterranea. Amoebae, cysts and mixtures of amoebae and cysts in primary, secondary and tertiary subcultures failed to infect tomato roots. PCR amplification of DNA from amoebae, cysts and spore balls using the S. subterranea -specific primer pair SsF/R generated a 434-bp product from S. subterranea spore balls only and not from amoebae or cysts. When an amoeba/cyst-specific primer pair AmF/R was designed and used for PCR amplification, a single 411-bp product was generated from DNA of amoebae and cysts, but not from DNA of S. subterranea spore balls. These results are discussed in relation to earlier reports claiming the successful isolation of S. subterranea and other plasmodiophorids in vitro. [source]