The plasmid pJEL 101 contains a highly repetitive element from the genome of Xanthomonas oryae pv. oryzae that has properties of an insertional element. The insertional nature of the element, hereto referred to as IS203, was confirmed by molecular analyses of the element and three related elements that were isolated from X. oryzae. The related sequences were isolated on the basis of transposition to the transposon-trapping vector pL3SAC and hybridization with pJEL101. The trapped elements (IS203a, IS203b, and IS203c) were each composed of 1,055 base pairs with 25 base terminal inverted repeats. The elements caused a three base pair target site duplication at the site of insertion in the sacRB gene. The sequence of pJEL 101 has 96% base pair identity with IS203a and 99% identity with IS203a and IS203c but lacks three nucleotides of the consensus left terminal repeat. IS203b has the same DNA sequences as IS203c but is inserted ito the sacRB gene in the opposite orientation. The longest open reading frame of IS203a could code for a protein of 318 amino acids and molecular weight of 37, 151. A search of the Genbank database revealed that IS203 has 51% identity with 909 nucleotides of IS4551 from Escherichia coli. The predicted protein of ORF1 has 40% and 30% amino acid identity to the ORF1 of Tn4551 and the transposase of IS30, respectively.

;Bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Olyzae is one of the most important diseases of rice. Host resistance, which relies on single, dominant resistance genes, is the only reliable method to control the disease at present. Pathogenic variation of the bacteria has been shown to follow the deployment of resistance genes in commercial cultivars. Information on the factors and the mechanisms for genetic variation of this pathogen is limited. Further, we have no clear evidence of whether population variability is due to sexual recombination or to variation introduced by mutations or intragenic recombination in a clonally maintained population.(omitted)itted)

In plant pathology there is an increasing necessity for improved cytological techniques as basis for the localization of cellular substances within the dynamic fine structure of the host-(plant)-pathogen-interaction. Low temperature (LT) preparation techniques (shock freezing, freeze substitution, LT embedding) are now successfully applied in plant pathology. They are regarded as important tools to stabilize the dynamic plant-pathogen-interaction as it exists under physiological conditions. - The main advantage of LT techniques versus conventional chemical fixation is seen in the maintenance of the hydration shell of molecules and macromolecular structures. This results in an improved fine structural preservation and in a superior retention of the antigenicity of proteins. - A well defined ultrastructure of small, fungal organisms and large biological samples such as plant material and as well as the plant-pathogen (fungus) infection sites are presented. The mesophyll tissue of Arabidopsis thaliana is characterized by homogeneously structured cytoplasm closely attached to the cell wall. From analyses of the compatible interaction between Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei on barley (Hordeum vulgare), various steps in the infection sequence can be identified. Infection sites of powdery mildew on primary leaves of barley are analysed with regard to the fine structural preservation of the haustoria. The presentation s focussed on the ultrastructure of the extrahaustorial matrix and the extrahaustorial membrane. - The integration of improved cellular preservation with a molecular analysis of the infected host cell is achieved by the application of secondary probing techniques, i.e. immunocytochemistry. Recent data on the characterization of freeze substituted powdery mildew and urst infected plant tissue by immunogold methodology are described with special emphasis on the localization of THRGP-like (threonine-hydrxyproline-rich glycoprotein) epitopes. Infection sites of powdery mildew on barley, stem rust as well as leaf rust (Puccinia recondita) on primary leaves of wheat were probed with a polyclonal antiserum to maize THRGP. Cross-reactivity with the anti-THRGP antiserum was observed over the extrahaustorial matrix of the both compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interactions. The highly localized accumulation of THRGP-like epitopes at the extrahaustorial host-pathogen interface suggests the involvement of structural, interfacial proteins during the infection of monocotyledonous plants by obligate, biotrophic fungi.

Induction of HMG-Co A reductase (HMGR) is essential for the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenoid phytoalexins and steroid derivatives in Solanaceous plants following wounding and pathogen infection. To better understand this complex step in stress-responsive isoprenoid synthesis, three classes of cDNAs for HMGR (hmg1, hmg2, and hmg3) were isolated from a potato tuber library. The potato cDNAs had extensive homology in open reading frames but had low homology in the 3'-untranslated regions. RNA gel blot analysis using gene-specific probes revealed that hmg1 is induced by wounding but wound induction is strongly suppressed by arachidonic acid or by inoculation with Phytophthora infestants. In contrast, hmg2 and hmg3 are slightly induced by wounding and strongly enhanced by arachidonic acid or inoculation. The induction and suppression of HMGR genes parallel the suppression of steroid and stimulation of sesquiterpenoid accumulations observed in earlier investigations. Treatment of the tuber disks with a low concentration of methyl-jasmonate doubled the wound induced accumulation of hmg1 transcripts and steroid-glycoalkaloid accumulation, but did not affect the abundance of transcripts for hmg2 or hmg3 nor induce phytoalexins. High concentration of methyl-jasmonate suppressed hmg1 mRNA and steroid-glycoalkaloid accumulation, induced hmg3 mRNA, and did not elicit phytoalexins. Lipoxygenase inhibitors suppressed the accumulation of of hmg1 transcripts and steroid-glycoalkaloids, which were restored by exogeneous methyl-jasmonate. Methyl-jasmonate applied together with arachidonic acid enhanced the elicitor induced accumulation of sesquiterpenes and sustained steroid-glycoalkaloid levels with transcript levels for the various HMGR mRNAs equal to or greater than wound-only treatment. These results domonstrate that the consequences of wound- and pathogen-responses of plants are different at the levels of gene expression and associated secondary metabolism.

To obtain basic informations for the improvement of seed potato production in Korea, some etiological properties of potato virus Y(PVY) distributed in the major seed potato production area(Daekwanryeong) were characterized, and the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the coat protein gene of the PVY strains isolated were analyzed. PVY strains in Daekwonryeong, an alpine area, were identified to be two strains, PVYo and PVYN by symptoms of indicator plants, and their distribution in potato fields was similar. Major symptom on potato varieties by PVY was grouped as either mosaic alone or mosaic accompanied with veinal necrosis in the lower leaves. The symptom occurrence of the two symptoms was similar with Irish Cobbler, but Superior showed a higher rate of mosaic symptom than the other. The PVY strain which was isolated from potato cv. Superior showing typical mosaic symptoms produced symptoms of PVY-O on the indicator plants of Chenopodium amaranticolor, Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi nc and Physalis floridana, but no symptom o Capsicum annum cv. Ace. Moreover, results from the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies showed that the isolated PVY reacts strongly with PYV-O antibodies but does not react specifically with PVY-T antibodies. The purified virus particles were flexious with a size of 730$\times$11nm. On the basis of the above characteristics, the strain was identified to be a PVY-O and named as of PVY-K strain. The flight of vector aphids was observed in late May, however, the first occurrence of infected plants was in mid June with the bait plants surrounded with PVY-infected potato plants and early July with the bait plants surrounded with PVY-free potato plants. PVY infection rates by counting symptoms on bait plants (White Burley) were 1.1% with the field surrounded with PVY-free potato plants and 13.7% the fields surrounded with PVY-infected potato plants, showing the effect of infection pressure. The propagated PVY-K strain on tobacco(N. sylvestris) was purified, and the RNA of the virus was extracted by the method of phenol extraction. The size of PVY-K RNA was measured to be 9, 500 nucleotides on agarose gel electrophoresis. The double-stranded cDNAs of PVY-K coat protein(CP) gene derived by the method of polymerase chain reaction were transformed into the competent cells of E. coli JM 109, and 2 clones(pYK6 and pYK17) among 11 clones were confirmed to contain the full-length cDNA. Purified plasmids from pYK17 were cut with Sph I and Xba I were deleted with exonuclease III and were used for sequencing analysis. The PVY-K CP gene was comprised of 801 nucleotides when counted from the clevage site of CAG(Gln)-GCA(Ala) to the stop codon of TGA and encoded 267 amino acids. The molecular weight of the encoded polypeptides was calculated to be 34, 630 daltons. The base composition of the CP gene was 33.3% of adenine, 25.2% of guanine, 20.1% of cytosine and 21.4% of uracil. The polypeptide encoded by PVY-K CP gene was comprised of 22 alanines, 20 threonines, 19 glutamic acids and 18 glycines in order. The homology of nucleotide sequence of PVY-K CP gene with those of PVY-O(Japan), PVY-T(Japan), PVY-TH(Japan), PVYN(the Netherlands), and PVYN(France) was represented as 97.3%, 88.9%, 89.3%, 89.6% and 98.5%, respectively. The amino acid sequence homology of the polypeptide encoded by PVY-K CP gene with those encoded by viruses was represented as 97.4%, 92.5%, 92.9%, 92.9%, and 98.5%, respectively.

Copper resistance in Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato is determined by copper-resistance operon (cop) on a highly conserved 35 kilobase plasmid. Copper-resistant strains of Pseudomonas syringae containing the cop operon accumulate copper and develop blue clonies on copper-containing media. The protein products of the copper-resistance operon were characterized to provide an understanding of the copper-resistance mechanism and its relationship to copper accumulation. The Cop proteins CopA (72 kDa), CopB (39 kDa), and CopC (12 kDa) were produced only under copper induction. CopA and CopC were periplasmic proteins and CopB was an outer membrane protein. Leader peptide sequences of CopA, CopB, and CopC were confirmed by amino-terminal peptide sequencing. CopA, CopB, and CopC were purified from strain PT23.2, and their copper contents were determined. One molecule of CopA bound 10.9${\pm}$1.2 atoms of copper and one molecule of CopC bound 0.6${\pm}$0.1 atom of copper. P. syringae cells containing copCD or copBCD cloned behind the lac promoter were hypersensitive to copper. The CopD (32 kDa), a probable inner membrane protein, function in copper uptake with CopC. The Cop proteins apparently mediate sequestration of copper outside of the cytoplasm as a copper-resistance mechanism.