VIEW ARTICLE

Molecular Plant Pathology

Variability of Kinetoplast DNA from Plant Trypanosomatids Responsible for Hartrot and Marchitez Diseases. Emmanuelle Muller, Laboratoire de Phytovirologie des Régions Chaudes, CIRAD, BP 5035, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 01, France; Jean Charles Ahomadegbe(2), Dominique Coulaud(3), Daniel Gargani(4), Carmen Fernandez-Becerra(5), and Michel Dollet(6). (2)Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Clinique et Moléculaire, Institut Gustave Roussy, 94800 Villejuif, France; (3)Laboratoire de Microscopie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Institut Gustave Roussy, 94800 Villejuif, France; (4)(6)Laboratoire de Phytovirologie des Régions Chaudes, CIRAD, BP 5035, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 01, France; (5)Grupo de Investigacion en Bioquimica y Parasitologia Molecular, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain. Phytopathology 85:942-947. Accepted for publication 26 May 1995. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1995. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-85-942.

The kinetoplast DNA of 27 plant trypanosomatid stocks (22 intraphloemic Phytomonas associated with coconut Hartrot, oil palm Marchitez, or decay of Alpinia purpurata, 3 Phytomonas isolates from latex, and 2 fruit trypanosomatids) was studied. Four classes of minicircle sizes were obtained: 1.6 and 1.8 kb for isolates originating from coconut palms, oil palms, Alpinia purpurata, and fruits: 850 bp and 2.8 kb for isolates from latex. Restriction endonuclease analysis showed that for almost all of the isolates minicircles were heterogeneous in base sequence. Cross-hybridization experiments were performed by Southern blot. A high sequence similarity only occurred between isolates of the same class of minicircle sizes, except for the 1.6-kb class, in which isolates from fruits and isolates originating from diseased coconut belonged to two hybridization groups. Moreover, the intraphloemic isolates that belonged to two classes, 1.6 and 1.8 kb, showed sequence similarity. These data confirm the existence of at least two groups of intraphloemic trypanosomatids associated with wilts, several groups of latex trypanosomatids, and one group of fruit trypanosomatids and could help in the classification of the “lower” trypanosomatids.