Disruption of a gene predicted to encode a solute binding protein of an ABC transporter reduces transmission of Spiroplasma citri by the leafhopper Circulifer haematoceps.

ABSTRACT: Spiroplasma citri is transmitted from plant to plant by phloem-feeding leafhoppers. In an attempt to identify mechanisms involved in transmission, mutants of S. citri affected in their transmission must be available. For this purpose, transposon (Tn4001) mutagenesis was used to produce mutants which have been screened for their ability to be transmitted by the leafhopper vector Circulifer haematoceps to periwinkle plants. With one mutant (G76) which multiplied in leafhoppers as efficiently as S. citri wild-type (wt) strain GII-3, the plants showed symptoms 4 to 5 weeks later than those infected with wt GII-3. Thirty to fifty percent of plants exposed to leafhoppers injected with G76 remained symptomless, whereas for wt GII-3, all plants exposed to the transmission showed severe symptoms. T

SUBMITTER: Boutareaud A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC444794 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature