Esta semana, o PPG Fitopatologia recebe o professor Leonardo De La Fuente, do Departamento de Entomologia e Doenças de Planta da Universidade de Auburn (Alabama, USA), para um seminário especial.

Data: 08/10/24, às 16h, no anfiteatro do ESB

Resumo: Xylella fastidiosa is a xylem-limited bacterial plant pathogen that is vectored only by sap-sucking insects. More than 690 plant species are known to be infected by this pathogen, although many of them do not develop symptoms. Pierce’s disease in grapevines has been known in the USA for ~150 years, but in the last decades this and other emergent diseases caused by X. fastidiosa have been detected in other parts of the world. Although historically most reports were originated in the Americas, in the last 10 years it has been detected in Europe and Asia, notably causing the devastating olive quick decline syndrome in the south of Italy. During this presentation we will review the molecular and microbiological traits of this pathogen that allow it to live successfully inside the xylem vessels. Mineral elements such as calcium, copper and zinc were shown to manipulate growth and virulence of X. fastidiosa, and novel Zn nanoparticles are being investigated as possible antibacterial treatments. The process of natural competence, which is the ability of a bacterium to acquire and recombine pieces of DNA from the environment, is being studied for its potential role in niche adaptation and evolution of X. fastidiosa. One of the key bacterial structures for this process, type IV pili, was dissected by determining the function of each one of the 38 genes involved in its biosynthesis and regulation. Understanding the strategies used by X. fastidiosa to exclusively live inside the xylem will help inform approaches that can target vulnerable aspects of this pathogen for disease control.