No alternative hosts of the sugarcane pathogen Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli were identified among grass and non-grass species using novel PCR primers

Abstract

Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (Lxx) is an endophytic bacterium that colonizes the xylem vessels of sugarcane and causes substantial losses in biomass. It is generally accepted that sugarcane is the only known natural host of Lxx despite the fact that there is just one systematic study to support this claim. Lxx-specific primers were developed and tested against a collection of cultivable bacterial endophytes of sugarcane to ensure their specificity. They were used to screen plants from twelve grass species collected in sugarcane fields and fifteen diverse species grown from seeds in the greenhouse. PCR did not detect Lxx in any case, confirming that the host range of this bacterium is most likely restricted to Saccharum spp.