Liberibacter

Liberibacter
The potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, feeds on a potato and infects it with "Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum", the bacterium that causes zebra chip disease.
Scientific classification
Domain:
Bacteria
Phylum:
Pseudomonadota
Class:
Alphaproteobacteria
Order:
Hyphomicrobiales
Family:
Rhizobiaceae
Genus:
Liberibacter

Fagen et al. 2014[1]
Species

See text.

Synonyms

"Candidatus Liberibacter" Jagoueix et al. 1997

Liberibacter is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria in the Rhizobiaceae family. Detection of the liberibacteria is based on PCR amplification of their 16S rRNA gene with specific primers. Members of the genus are plant pathogens mostly transmitted by psyllids. The genus was originally spelled Liberobacter.[2]

Most importantly, Liberibacter is a causative agent of Huanglongbing disease (HLB) also known as citrus greening disease.[3] Liberibacter is transmitted by two insects from Psyllidae family – Diaphorina citri in Asia, Brazil and Florida, and Trioza erytreae in Africa. The Asian HLB strain, "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" is more heat tolerant, while the African strain, Candidatus Liberibacter africanus is asymptomatic at temperatures above 30 °C.[3] Species of Liberibacter, infecting solanaceous plants has been identified and it was carried by another psyllid, a potato pest Bactericera cockerelli.[3][4]

  1. ^ Fagen JR, Leonard MT, Coyle JF, McCullough CM, Davis-Richardson AG, Davis MJ, Triplett EW (2014). "Liberibacter crescens gen. nov., sp. nov., the first cultured member of the genus Liberibacter". Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 64 (7): 2461–2466. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.063255-0. PMID 24786353.
  2. ^ Taxonomy browser
  3. ^ a b c Nadarasah G, Stavrinides J (May 2011). "Insects as alternative hosts for phytopathogenic bacteria". FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 35 (3): 555–75. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.2011.00264.x. PMID 21251027.
  4. ^ Hansen AK, Trumble JT, Stouthamer R, Paine TD (September 2008). "A new Huanglongbing Species, "Candidatus Liberibacter psyllaurous," found to infect tomato and potato, is vectored by the psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc)". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 74 (18): 5862–5. Bibcode:2008ApEnM..74.5862H. doi:10.1128/AEM.01268-08. PMC 2547047. PMID 18676707.