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Impact of the colonization of Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli in a susceptible sugarcane genotype on water status and physiological traits

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Abstract

Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (Lxx) is a pathogenic bacterium that causes Ratoon Stunting Disease (RSD) in the sugarcane crop. Disease symptoms caused by Lxx have been associated with hormonal imbalance, which may be intensified when plants are under water deficit conditions. However, up to date there are no studies showing that Lxx colonization decreases water status in sugarcane. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of water status and physiological traits of sugarcane colonized by Lxx under irrigation and water deficit conditions. We inoculated cuttings of the sugarcane genotype CB 49260 with Lxx using four treatments: i) healthy plants fully irrigated, ii) healthy plants under water deficit, iii) plants inoculated with Lxx fully irrigated, and iv) plants inoculated with Lxx under water deficit. Lxx inoculation in sugarcane did not affect relative water content (RWC) in the leaves, independently of the water conditions tested. For gas exchange and fluorescence traits, we did not identify differences between plants inoculated with Lxx and healthy plants. As expected, plants under water deficit conditions decreased RWC, CO2 assimilation, stomatal conductance, transpiration and fluorescence traits, and increased soluble amino acids and proline contents in the leaves. Lxx inoculation increased amino acids and proline contents in plants under water deficit conditions. Therefore, the results indicated that sugarcane colonized with Lxx did not change plant water status independently of the water conditions during the entire growing season.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and Conselho Nacional Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ) by scholarship (PROCESSO 169260/2017-8; 140516/2016-6). We also would like to thank Dr. Antonio Fernandes Nogueira Júnior and the technicians Pedro Conceição Arthuso, Silvia de Afonseca Lourenço, Salete Aparecida Gaziola and José Rodolfo Groppo to support this experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP), CEP, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil

    Fernando Henrique Silva Garcia & Ricardo Alfredo Kluge

  2. Department of Biosystem Engineering, “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP), CEP, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil

    Timóteo Herculino da Silva Barros & Rubens Duarte Coelho

  3. Department of Phytopathology, “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP), CEP, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil

    Marie Caroline Ferreira Laborde

  4. Department of Genetics, “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP), CEP, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil

    Ricardo Antunes Azevedo

  5. Department of Computational & Analytical Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK

    Danilo Hottis Lyra

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  1. Fernando Henrique Silva Garcia
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Correspondence to Fernando Henrique Silva Garcia.

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Supplementary 1:

*Soil chemical and physical characterization was performed according to standard methods adopted for tropical soils (van Raij et al. 2001). Briefly, pH was determined in CaCl2 solution (0.01 M); P, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ in ion exchange resin; H + Al in KCl solution (1 M); Sand, Silt and Clay by Bouyoucos Hydrometer method, OM (organic matter) by the Walkley-Black method, and θFC e θPWP by Richards extractor method. (DOCX 15 kb)

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Garcia, F.H.S., Barros, T.H.d., Coelho, R.D. et al. Impact of the colonization of Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli in a susceptible sugarcane genotype on water status and physiological traits. Eur J Plant Pathol 159, 839–849 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02209-8

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