• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2017

Citrus blast caused by bacterium Pseudomonas syringae is a very important disease of citrus occuring in many areas of the world, but with few data about genetic structure of the pathogen involved. Considering the above fact, this study reports genetic characterization of 43 P. syringae isolates obtained from plant tissue displaying citrus blast symptoms on mandarin (Citrus reticulata) in Montenegro, using multilocus sequence analysis of gyrB, rpoD, and gap1 gene sequences. Gene sequences from a collection of 54 reference pathotype strains of P. syringae from the Plant Associated and Environmental Microbes Database (PAMDB) was used to establish a genetic relationship with our isolates obtained from mandarin. Phylogenetic analyses of gyrB, rpoD, and gap1 gene sequences showed that P. syringae pv. syringae causes citrus blast in mandarin in Montenegro, and belongs to genomospecies 1. Genetic homogeneity of isolates suggested that the Montenegrian population might be clonal which indicates a possible common source of infection. These findings may assist in further epidemiological studies of this pathogen and for determining mandarin breeding strategies for P. syringae control.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.417-427
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• 2015

Purpose: This study investigated different band selection methods to classify spectrally similar data - obtained from aerial images of healthy citrus canopies and citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing or HLB) infected canopies - using small differences without unmixing endmember components and therefore without the need for an endmember library. However, large number of hyperspectral bands has high redundancy which had to be reduced through band selection. The objective, therefore, was to first select the best set of bands and then detect citrus Huanglongbing infected canopies using these bands in aerial hyperspectral images. Methods: The forward feature selection algorithm (FFSA) was chosen for band selection. The selected bands were used for identifying HLB infected pixels using various classifiers such as K nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), naïve Bayesian classifier (NBC), and generalized local discriminant bases (LDB). All bands were also utilized to compare results. Results: It was determined that a few well-chosen bands yielded much better results than when all bands were chosen, and brought the classification results on par with standard hyperspectral classification techniques such as spectral angle mapper (SAM) and mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF). Median detection accuracies ranged from 66-80%, which showed great potential toward rapid detection of the disease. Conclusions: Among the methods investigated, a support vector machine classifier combined with the forward feature selection algorithm yielded the best results.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.253-256
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• 2003

Citrus canker disease is caused by bacteria Xanthomonas axonopodis .pv. Citri. Shiranuhi cultivar, a hybrid of Kiyomi tangor and Nakano No.3 ponkan was evaluated for resistance to citrus canker based on initiation of disease, percent area of lesion infected and growth rate of bacteria in the leaf under growth chamber condition. Significant differences between susceptible plant and resistant plants were observed in these assays. Resistant plants showed delayed disease symptoms compared to the susceptible plants after spray inoculation of the pathogen. The resistant verities, satsuma, yuzu, and Shiranuhi showed symptoms after six days where as susceptible, mexican lime showed the symptoms just after three days of inoculation. 18 days after inoculation, percent area of lesions developed on leaf and disease severity differed significantly in susceptible and resistant plants, and were ranked as follows: mexican lime > early satsuma =Shiranuhi =yuzu (P <, 0.01). However, 30 days after inoculation, percent area of lesion was further differentiated into resistant and highly resistant plants. That was ranked as follows: sweet orange> early satsuma =Shiranuhi =Kiyomi > yuzu (P < 0.01). These results indicate that host reaction to the bacterial was more distinct when the disease developed for a longer period. Growth rates of a citrus canker bacterium during 16 40 h also were distinct after infiltration into leaves of susceptible and resistant plants, and were ranked as follows: sweet orange> early satsuma =Shiranuhi =Kiyomi =yuzu (P < 0.01). Based on these results, we concluded that Shiranuhi is resistant to citrus canker as compared to Kiyomi, early satsuma, and yuzu.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.486-497
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• 2019

Citrus canker is a devastating disease of citrus caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc). A total of 134 endophytic bacteria were isolated from various gymnospermic and angiospermic plants. They were screened for their antagonistic activities against three wild-type and six streptomycin-resistant Xcc strains. TbL-22 and TbL-26, both later identified as Bacillus thuringiensis, inhibited all the wild and resistant Xcc strains. TbL-22 exerted the highest antagonistic activity against XccW3 and XccM6 with inhibition zones of $20.64{\pm}0.69$ and $19.91{\pm}0.87mm$, respectively. Similarly ethyl acetate extract of TbL-22 showed highest inhibition zones $15.31{\pm}2.08$ and $19.37{\pm}3.17mm$ against XccW3 and XccM6, respectively. TbL-22 reduced canker incidence on infected leaves by 64.05% relative to positive controls. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the cell membranes of Xcc treated with ethyl acetate extract of TbL-22 were ruptured, lysed, and swollen. B. thuringiensis TbL-22 can effectively and sustainably controls streptomycin-resistant citrus canker.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2012

Citrus melanose is one of important disease in citrus cultivation, reducing quality of citrus fruits and resulting in economic loss. Like other diseases in citrus, melanose was mainly protected by chemical fungicide in the field. Recently, alternative method of disease control is highly required due to the side effect of the chemicals. In this study four rhizobacterial strains TRH423-3, MRL408-3, THJ609-3, and TRH415-2 are selected by dual-culture testing its antifungal activity against Diaporthe citri causing citrus melanose. To investigate the protection efficacy of the selected rhizobacterial strains to citrus melanose, the bacteria were pre-treated on citrus leaves following inoculation with melanose pathogen. Pre-treatment with all selected rhizobacterial strains showed disease suppression in which the levels of protection rates were different by the rhizobacterial strains. Additional treatment with the rhizobacterial strains after the pathogen inoculation enhanced protection rates in all cases. The strain MRL408-3 and TRH423-3 were identified as Burkholderia gladioli, TRH415-2 as Pseudomons fluorescens and THJ609-3 as Pseudomonas pudia as a result of analyzing the internal transcript spaces of the rhizobacterial strains rDNA. The selected rhizobacterial strains may be valuable as biological control agents in the environment-friendly citrus farm in which chemical application is limited.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.129-132
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• 2012

Citrus bacterial canker is an economically important disease affecting citrus production in many citrusgrowing areas and several pathotypes have been recognized within the Xanthomonas pathogens causing canker. In view of the containment of the disease, accurate identification of the causal bacterium is important. In this study, triplex PCR method was developed by using the previously reported primers. Two groups of primer combination, such as, one group including primers 2/3, J-pth1/J-pth2 and XACF/XACR, and another group 2/3, J-pth1/J-pth2 and Xac01/Xac02, were suitable for the detection and differentiation of X. a. pv. citri $A^w$, X. a. pv. aurantifolii B and C, and X. a. pv. citrumelo E strains. Moreover, the primer combination of Xac01 and J-pth2 promised us to use as a specific primer set to detect X. a. pv. citrumelo E strain. The PCR methods developed in this study could be used for the rapid differentiation of Xanthomonas pathotypes of citrus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.121.1-121
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• 2003

Dispersal of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, causing citrus bacterial canker disease on Unshiu orange was investigated at previously infested plots at Seogwipo in Jeju island of Korea. The bacterial pathogen overwintered in lesions started to multiply at tate May, and disease firstly observed one month after detection of phage from lesions. The disease gradually increased, however, it dispersed non-directionally to nearby plants from inoculum sources. Diseased plants were aggregated to form a cluster throughout the experiment. Population dynamics of phage on symtomless leaf surface and the disease severity were compared in the nursery, Increase of phage population on symptomless leaf surface preceded one month to that of the disease severity Population of phage increased constantly from late July to October, however, the disease severity decreased from late August to late October. It was assumed that the decrease of disease severity might be due to disease-induced defoliation.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.417-424
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• 2019

Melanose, caused by Diaporthe citri, is one of severe diseases in citrus, a major economic resource in Jeju island. To reduce the usage amount of organic synthetic fungicide, bio-sulfur was tested as an alternative chemical to control citrus melanose in the present study. Direct antifungal activity of bio-sulfur against D. citri was determined through in vitro experiment using artificial nutrient media. Disease severity of melanose on bio-sulfur pretreated citrus leaves was lower than that on untreated ones. To illustrate the mechanism of disease suppression by bio-sulfur, infection structures were observed with a fluorescent microscope and a scanning electron microscope. In fluorescent microscopic observation, most conidia rarely germinated. In addition, hyphal growth on leaves pretreated with bio-sulfur was inhibited compared to that on untreated ones. In scanning electron microscope images of bio-sulfur pretreated leaves, surfaces of most conidia were shrunk while hyphae were morphologically changed and frequently branched. Such microscopic observations were also found for leaves pretreated with a commercial fungicide Dithianon. These results suggest that bio-sulfur may be used to control citrus melanose as an environment friendly alternative to organic synthetic fungicides

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.343-349
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• 2015

Citrus canker caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) is one of the most important bacterial diseases of citrus. Because citrus canker is not found in many countries including European Union and Australia, Xcc is strictly regulated in order to prevent its spread. In this study, the effects of X-irradiation on Xcc growth either in the suspension or on the surface of citrus fruits were investigated. The suspension containing $1{\times}10^7cfu/ml$ of Xcc was irradiated with different absorbed doses of X-irradiation ranging from 50 to 400 Gy. The results showed that Xcc was fully dead at 400 Gy of X-irradiation. To determine the effect of X-irradiation on quarantine, the Xcc-inoculated citrus fruits were irradiated with different X-ray doses at which Xcc was completely inhibited by an irradiation dose of 250 Gy. The $D_{10}$ value for Xcc on citrus fruits was found to be 97 Gy, indicating the possibility of direct application on citrus quarantine without any side sterilizer. Beside, presence of Xcc on the surface of asymptomatic citrus fruits obtained from citrus canker-infected orchards was noted. It indicated that the exporting citrus fruits need any treatment so that Xcc on the citrus fruits should be completely eliminated. Based on these results, ionizing radiation can be considered as an alternative method of eradicating Xcc for export of citrus fruits.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.33-41
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• 2020

Neuroinflammation is known as the main mechanism implicated in the advancement of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The main feature of neuroinflammation is associated with the activation of microglia. The activated microglia increase proinflammatory cytokine production and induce progressive neuronal cell death. Citrus flavonoids show neuroprotective effects that are associated with the anti-inflammatory action of flavonoids in neurodegenerative diseases. Among these citrus flavonoids, kaempferol, naringin, and nobiletin show inhibitory effects on nuclear factor-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways that can modulate inflammatory conditions in microglial cells. In the present review, we present the anti-inflammatory activities of citrus flavonoids and therapeutic potential of flavonoids as neuroprotective agents.