Functional analyses in the sugarcane - Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli pathosystem: metabolic and cellular alterations in the host and responses to oxidative and osmotic stresses in the pathogen

• Grant number: 15/18681-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Luis Eduardo Aranha Camargo
• Grantee: Luis Eduardo Aranha Camargo
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Claudia Barros Monteiro Vitorello

Abstract

The aim o our research group is to understand the genesis of ratoon stunting (RSD), a disease of sugarcane caused by the bacterium Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (Lxx). Recent transcriptomic analysis of young plants infected by Lxx (Thematic Project 2008/56296-2) suggested that the differential expression during the development of the plant of genes involved in the regulation of the cell cycle and in the production of hormones is intimately associated with the genesis of RSD. However, since our analyses were done with young plants and the symptoms develop only in adult plants of the stubble (ratoon) crops, it was not possible to link the differential expression of these genes with the morphological alterations that result from the disease. Also, presently we do not know how these changes in gene expression translate into metabolic changes in the plant. Moreover, since we consider Lxx an endophyte with a dual behavior (parasitic/mutualistic) towards its host, our working hypothesis is that part of these changes might stimulate bacterial growth and that for this to happen the pathogen must cope with the stresses usually imposed by the host. Thus, the objectives of this proposal are to compare both the metabolic profiles of the leaves and of the xylem sap of plants from two varieties that differ in the degree of bacterial multiplication in their tissues and to compare the anatomy of meristematic cells of infected plants. In addition, the proposal explores the in vitro functionality of Lxx genes similar to bacterial genes involved in responses to oxidative and osmotic stresses. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FARIA, RAPHAEL S. C. A.; CIA, MARIANA C.; MONTEIRO-VITORELLO, CLAUDIA B.; AZEVEDO, RICARDO A.; CAMARGO, LUIS EDUARDO A.. Characterization of genes responsive to osmotic and oxidative stresses of the sugarcane bacterial pathogen Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, v. 51, n. 1, NOV 2019. (15/18681-0, 16/17545-8)

CIA, MARIANA CICARELLI; DE CARVALHO, GISELLE; AZEVEDO, RICARDO ANTUNES; MONTEIRO-VITORELLO, CLAUDIA BARROS; SOUZA, GLAUCIA MENDES; NISHIYAMA-JUNIOR, MILTON YUTAKA; LEMBKE, CAROLINA GIMILIANI; DA CUNHA ANTUNES DE FARIA, RAPHAEL SEVERO; RODRIGUES MARQUES, JOAO PAULO; MELOTTO, MAELI; et al. Novel Insights Into the Early Stages of Ratoon Stunting Disease of Sugarcane Inferred from Transcript and Protein Analysis. PHYTOPATHOLOGY, v. 108, n. 12, p. 1455-1466, DEC 2018. (12/25315-1, 08/56260-2, 15/18681-0)

CASTRO-MORETTI, FERNANDA R.; COCURON, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE; CIA, MARIANA C.; CATALDI, THAIS R.; LABATE, CARLOS A.; ALONSO, ANA PAULA; CAMARGO, LUIS E. A.. Targeted Metabolic Profiles of the Leaves and Xylem Sap of Two Sugarcane Genotypes Infected with the Vascular Bacterial Pathogen Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli. METABOLITES, v. 11, n. 4, APR 2021. (15/18681-0)