Comprehensive screening of antimicrobials to control phytoplasma diseases using an in vitro plant-phytoplasma co-culture system

Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that infect many important crops and cause serious economic losses worldwide. However, owing to an inability to culture phytoplasmas, screening of antimicrobials on media is difficult. The only antimicrobials being used to control phytoplasmas are tetracycl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbiology (Society for General Microbiology) 2018-08, Vol.164 (8), p.1048-1058
Main Authors: Tanno, Kazuyuki, Maejima, Kensaku, Miyazaki, Akio, Koinuma, Hiroaki, Iwabuchi, Nozomu, Kitazawa, Yugo, Nijo, Takamichi, Hashimoto, Masayoshi, Yamaji, Yasuyuki, Namba, Shigetou
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Chloramphenicol - pharmacology
Chrysanthemum - microbiology
Coculture Techniques
Doxycycline - pharmacology
Drug Combinations
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Phytoplasma - drug effects
Plant Diseases - microbiology
Rifampin - pharmacology
RNA, Ribosomal - genetics
Tetracycline - pharmacology
Thiamphenicol - pharmacology
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Summary:Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that infect many important crops and cause serious economic losses worldwide. However, owing to an inability to culture phytoplasmas, screening of antimicrobials on media is difficult. The only antimicrobials being used to control phytoplasmas are tetracycline-class antibiotics. In this study, we developed an accurate and efficient screening method to evaluate the effects of antimicrobials using an in vitro plant-phytoplasma co-culture system. We tested 40 antimicrobials, in addition to tetracycline, and four of these (doxycycline, chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol and rifampicin) decreased the accumulation of 'Candidatus (Ca.) Phytoplasma asteris'. The phytoplasma was eliminated from infected plants by the application of both tetracycline and rifampicin. We also compared nucleotide sequences of rRNAs and amino acid sequences of proteins targeted by antimicrobials between phytoplasmas and other bacteria. Since antimicrobial target sequences were conserved among various phytoplasma species, the antimicrobials that decreased accumulation of 'Ca. P. asteris' may also have been effective against other phytoplasma species. These approaches will provide new strategies for phytoplasma disease management.
ISSN:1350-0872
1465-2080
DOI:10.1099/mic.0.000681