Author
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Wanner, Leslie |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2008 Publication Date: 6/1/2008 Citation: Wanner, L.A. 2008. Streptomyces scabies populations in a single field are not clonal and shift from year to year. Meeting Abstract. Phytopathology 98:S167 Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Molecular typing methods are easily devised that distinguish strains within individual microbial species, enabling researchers to follow the origins, evolution and spread of pathogens within and between hosts and environments. To study the evolution and population dynamics of plant pathogenic Streptomyces species in the field, PCR primer sets were devised with one primer anchored in an insertion sequence element found in S. scabies, S. acidiscabies and S. turgidiscabies. Primer sets were used to fingerprint several hundred S. scabies isolates collected over seven years from a common scab field in northern Maine. All isolates shared markers for the S. scabies pathogenicity island, and belonged to species scabies, as determined by 16s ribosomal DNA type. While molecular forensics studies indicate that epidemics of Salmonella enteriditis and S. typhimurium in humans and animals are associated with single clonal pathogen populations that prevail over large geographical areas, the data from the Maine scab field show that as many as 10 distinct pathogenic S. scabies strains could be distinguished in a single field/year, and strain profiles shift dramatically from year to year. Multilocus sequence typing is being developed to independently corroborate S. scabies strain designations, and strain profiles are being compared to those from nearby and distant areas. The broad aim is to determine the origin of strain variation and its ecological and epidemiological significance. This information can be applied to examine the relationships between pathogenic and non-pathogenic soil isolates, and to determine whether plant pathogenic Streptomyces causing potato common scab are spread via seed potatoes or are endemic to soils. |
