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EVALUATION OF AN ENDOPHYTIC SYMBIONT AS A PU- TATIVE BIOCONTROL AGENT OF THE CoDiRO STRAIN OF XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA

The quarantine bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Xf is responsible for diseases of a wide range of cultivated;wild plants Few ef forts have been made to investigate the potential use of endophytic symbionts on the disease phenotype of Xfinfected plants The aim of our study was to evaluate if Paraburkholderia phytofirmans PsJN strain;a plant growthpromoting rhizobacterium;whose beneficial effects in the reduction of symptom severity caused by Xf in grape vine affected by Pierce's Disease have recently been proven;may play a role as biocontrol agent against Xf CoDiRO strain;the agent of a severe disease of olives in Apulia southern Italy Greenhouse trials are being conducted to test the ability of P phytofirmans to colonise xylem vessels of olive;Nicotiana benthamiana;oleander;following inoculation of bacterial suspensions by needle puncture;root dipping A conventional PCR assay for detection of P phytofirmans movement in plants has been developed to be used in combination with plate isolation;a qPCR specific assay Preliminary results showed that needleinoculated bacterial cells were detectable in the leaf petioles of the three hosts;away from the inoculation site Root dipping proved successful in infecting in vitrocultured olive plantlets Doubleinfection assays;currently underway;will prove if P phytofirmans PsJN shows a beneficial interaction with Xf CoDiRO

2017