The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is one of the most important citrus pests. ACP is the vector of the phloem-limited bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter americanus and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the causal agents of the devastating citrus disease huanglongbing (HLB). The management of HLB is based on the use of healthy young plants, eradication of infected plants a...

Bacterial gut communities of arthropods are highly diverse and tightly related to host feeding habits. However, our understanding of the origin and role of the symbionts is often hindered by the lack of genetic information. "Candidatus Hepatoplasma crinochetorum" is a Mollicutes symbiont found in the midgut glands of terrestrial isopods. The only available nucleotide sequence for this symbiont ...

To examine the effect of pathogens on the diversity and structure of plant-associated bacterial communities, we carried out a molecular analysis using citrus and huanglongbing as a host-disease model. 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis of citrus roots revealed shifts in microbial diversity in response to pathogen infection. The clone library of the uninfected root samples has a majority of ph...

The bacterial microbiomes of citrus plants were characterized in response to 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (Las)-infection and treatments with ampicillin (Amp) and gentamicin (Gm) by Phylochip-based metagenomics. The results revealed that 7,407 of over 50,000 known Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) in 53 phyla were detected in citrus leaf midribs using the PhyloChip™ G3 array, of which f...

ABSTRACT Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most devastating diseases of citrus worldwide. The causal agent of HLB in Florida is thought to be 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus'. In this work, we examined the responses of 30 different genotypes of citrus to Florida isolates of 'Ca. L. asiaticus' under controlled conditions in the greenhouse or growth room. Although 'Ca. L. asiaticus' was...

Abstract “Huanglongbing” (HLB) is one of the most devastating diseases citrus orchards worldwide. Samples from 183 plants different cultivars and rootstock/cultivar combinations, showing HLB symptoms in three Caribbean countries (Cuba, Jamaica, Guadeloupe-France), were collected to verify possible co-infection ‘ Candidatus Phytoplasma’ Liberibacter’ species. The 64% samples resulted positive Ca...