We have identified endosymbiotic bacteria of the genus Spiroplasma in wild populations of Drosophila melanogaster from Ukraine. These bacteria were identified from two different locations, and this is the first finding of the bacteria in Ukraine. Flies from populations infected with Spiroplasma spp. did not show any signs of male killing. The results are discussed in relation to previous findin...

Vertically transmitted symbionts that protect their hosts against parasites and pathogens are well known from insects, yet the underlying mechanisms of symbiont-mediated defense are largely unclear. A striking example of an ecologically important defensive symbiosis involves the woodland fly Drosophila neotestacea, which is protected by the bacterial endosymbiont Spiroplasma when parasitized by...

Spiroplasma, small motile wall-less bacteria, are linked by molecular and serological studies to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which include scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. In this study, two experiments were undertaken to determine the role of spiroplasma in the pathogenesis of TSE. In experiment 1, Spirop...

MultiLocus Variable number of tandem repeat Analysis (MLVA) has been extensively used to examine epidemiological and evolutionary issues on monomorphic human pathogenic bacteria, but not on bacterial plant pathogens of agricultural importance albeit such tools would improve our understanding of their epidemiology, as well as of the history of epidemics on a global scale. Xanthomonas citri pv. c...

The gammaproteobacterium Xanthomonas citri pv. citri causes Asiatic citrus canker. Pathotype A strains have a broad host range, which includes most commercial citrus species, and they cause important economic losses worldwide. Control often relies on frequent copper sprays. We present here the complete genomes of six X. citri pv. citri copper-resistant strains.

CandidatusLiberibacter asiaticus (Las) has been reported to increase the susceptibility of theAsian citrus psyllid,Diaphorina citriKuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), to selected insecticides. Reduced general esterase activity in Las-infected, compared with uninfected, D. citri has been proposed as a possible explanation for this difference in insecticide susceptibility. The current study was cond...

Citrus canker (caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (ex Hasse) Gabriel et al.) is a disease that affects several citrus species and causes erumpent, necrotic lesions on leaves, shoots, branches, and fruit. Yield loss due to fruit and leaf drop can be substantial, and on fruit the unsightly blemishes leads to reduced marketability (14,15,34). The disease is widespread in citrus growing regio...

Lectins play important roles in crustacean innate immunity through recognition of foreign pathogens. In this study, 20 lectins including C-type lectins [dual-carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) type and single-CRD type], L-type lectin, and lectin with low-density lipoprotein class A (LDLa) domain were identified from the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. The tissue distribution and ...