New tools in the fight against lethal citrus disease
Bacterial road map offers new targets for Huanglongbing disease
treatments

Date:
August 10, 2020
Source:
University of California - Riverside
Summary:
Scientists are closer to gaining the upper hand on Huanglongbing,
a disease that has wiped out citrus orchards across the globe. New
models of the bacterium linked to the disease reveal control
methods that were previously unavailable.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists are closer to gaining the upper hand on a disease that has
wiped out citrus orchards across the globe. New models of the bacterium
linked to the disease reveal control methods that were previously
unavailable.


========================================================================== Metabolic models of organisms are like road maps of cities.

"They show you all the biological processes, and how they work together,"
said UC Riverside microbiology professor James Borneman. "They also
show you which molecular pathways, if blocked, will kill the organism."
In this case, researchers created the first models of the bacterium
associated with Huanglongbing or HLB, also known as citrus greening
disease. The team's work is described in a new paper published in Nature's
npj Systems Biology and Applications.

The research team made models for six different strains of the bacterium
known as CLas and doing so enabled them to identify as many as 94
enzymes essential for the bacterium's survival. These enzymes can now
be considered targets for the creation of new antibacterial treatments.

In addition, the team identified metabolites required for the bacteria
to grow.



========================================================================== "Just like when humans break down the food they eat into small components called metabolites, which feed our cells, bacterial cells also require metabolites for their growth," Borneman said.

Knowing the metabolites needed for CLas' growth could enable scientists
to cultivate it in a laboratory setting. It is not currently possible
to grow CLas on its own, hindering scientists' ability to study it and ultimately to manage it.

This research project involved a collaboration between UC Riverside,
UC San Diego, Texas A&M University, and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. In addition to Borneman, members of the modeling team
included UCR plant pathologist Georgios Vidalakis and UCSD systems
biologist Karsten Zengler.

UC Riverside is at the forefront of efforts to combat Huanglongbing. Other important areas of research include antibacterial development and
delivery, immune system fortification in citrus, engineering resistant
citrus via a detailed understanding of host-microbe interactions,
breeding resistant citrus, and insect management, among others.

Because microbes tend to mutate and acquire resistance mechanisms in
response to drugs and other efforts to thwart them, Borneman cautions
that any one solution to the problem may be short-lived.

"Microbes almost always adapt to control measures, perpetuating the 'arms
race' between pathogens and hosts," Borneman said. "There won't be one
thing that will fix this disease. We likely will need to address all three components associated with the disease -- the bacterium, the insect that transmits it, and the citrus plants -- to find a long-lasting solution."
To that end, the research team is constructing metabolic models of citrus
and the insect, the Asian citrus psyllid.

"We expect that this multiorganism modeling endeavor will provide new
insights into the mechanisms underlying this disease, which will lead
to effective and sustainable Huanglongbing management strategies,"
Borneman said.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Riverside. Original written by Jules
Bernstein. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Cristal Zun~iga, Beth Peacock, Bo Liang, Greg McCollum, Sonia C.

Irigoyen, Diego Tec-Campos, Clarisse Marotz, Nien-Chen Weng,
Alejandro Zepeda, Georgios Vidalakis, Kranthi K. Mandadi,
James Borneman, Karsten Zengler. Linking metabolic phenotypes
to pathogenic traits among "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus"
and its hosts. npj Systems Biology and Applications, 2020; 6 (1)
DOI: 10.1038/s41540-020-00142-w ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200810103247.htm

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