Sequences essential for transmission of Spiroplasma citri by its leafhopper vector, Circulifer haematoceps, revealed by plasmid curing and replacement based on incompatibility.

ABSTRACT: Spiroplasma citri GII3 contains highly related low-copy-number plasmids pSci1 to -6. Despite the strong similarities between their replication regions, these plasmids coexist in the spiroplasma cells, indicating that they are mutually compatible. The pSci1 to -6 plasmids encode the membrane proteins known as S. citri adhesion-related proteins (ScARPs) (pSci1 to -5) and the hydrophilic protein P32 (pSci6), which had been tentatively associated with insect transmission, as they were not detected in non-insect-transmissible strains. With the aim of further investigating the role of plasmid-encoded determinants in insect transmission, we have constructed S. citri mutant strains that differ in their plasmid contents by developing a plasmid curing/replacement strategy based on the incompatibilit

SUBMITTER: Breton M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2869146 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature