PARATRANSGENESIS TO CONTROL PIERCES DISEASE: THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ALCALIGENES XYLOSOXIDANS DENITRIFICANS

• Author(s): Lauzon, Carol; Miller, Thomas; Bextine, Blake; Cooksey, Donald; Lampe, David; Richards, Frank;
• Abstract: Characteristics of Alcaligenes xylosoxidans denitrificans (Axd), a bacterium associated with Homalodisca coagulata (Say) and several host plants of this sharpshooter, were examined because this bacterium is being considered for use as a paratransgenic vehicle for control of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf). Axd established in sharpshooter vectors of Xf but was not found in predators that Axd-fed sharpshooters. Axd did not establish on or within table grapes, or in a variety of red and white wines. The bacterium also did not establish in soil samples. Axd catabolized a variety of nitrogen substrates but did not produce certain extracellular enzymes considered to be virulence factors. An auxotrophic subpopulation of Axd that requires cysteine was isolated.
• Publication Date: Aug 2003
• Journal: 2003 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium