Publications

complete genome sequence of liberibacter crescens bt-1.	liberibacter crescens bt-1, a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterial isolate, was previously recovered from mountain papaya to gain insight on huanglongbing (hlb) and zebra chip (zc) diseases. the genome of bt-1 was sequenced at the interdisciplinary center for biotechnology research (icbr) at the university of florida. a finished assembly and annotation yielded one chromosome with a length of 1,504,659 bp and a g+c content of 35.4%. comparison to other species in the liberibacter genus, l. crescen ...	2012	23408754
the complete genome sequence of 'candidatus liberibacter americanus', associated with citrus huanglongbing.	liberibacter spp. form a rhizobiaceae clade of phloem-limited pathogens of limited host range. two obligately parasitic species have been sequenced: 'candidatus liberibacter asiaticus', which causes citrus huanglongbing (hlb) worldwide, and 'ca. l. solanacearum', which causes potato "zebra chip" disease. a third (proposed) species, liberibacter crescens, was isolated from mountain papaya, grown in axenic culture, and sequenced. in an effort to identify common host determinants, the complete geno ...	2014	24200077
comparative genomics of cultured and uncultured strains suggests genes essential for free-living growth of liberibacter.	the full genomes of two uncultured plant pathogenic liberibacter, ca. liberibacter asiaticus and ca. liberibacter solanacearum, are publicly available. recently, the larger genome of a closely related cultured strain, liberibacter crescens bt-1, was described. to gain insights into our current inability to culture most liberibacter, a comparative genomics analysis was done based on the rast, kegg, and manual annotations of these three organisms. in addition, pathogenicity genes were examined in ...	2014	24416233
the transcriptional activator ldtr from 'candidatus liberibacter asiaticus' mediates osmotic stress tolerance.	the causal agent of huanglongbing disease, 'candidatus liberibacter asiaticus', is a non-culturable, gram negative, phloem-limited α-proteobacterium. current methods to control the spread of this disease are still limited to the removal and destruction of infected trees. in this study, we identified and characterized a regulon from 'ca. l. asiaticus' involved in cell wall remodeling, that contains a member of the marr family of transcriptional regulators (ldtr), and a predicted l,d-transpeptidas ...	2014	24763829
"candidatus liberibacter asiaticus" prophage late genes may limit host range and culturability.	"candidatus liberibacter asiaticus" is an uncultured alphaproteobacterium that systemically colonizes its insect host both inter- and intracellularly and also causes a severe, crop-destroying disease of citrus called huanglongbing, or citrus "greening." in planta, "ca. liberibacter asiaticus" is also systemic but phloem limited. "ca. liberibacter asiaticus" strain uf506 carries two predicted prophages, sc1 and sc2. bacteriophage particles have been observed in experimentally "ca. liberibacter as ...	2014	25063651
the pdb database is a rich source of alpha-helical anti-microbial peptides to combat disease causing pathogens.	the therapeutic potential of α-helical anti-microbial peptides (ah-amp) to combat pathogens is fast gaining prominence. based on recently published open access software for characterizing α-helical peptides (pagal), we elucidate a search methodology (scalpel) that leverages the massive structural data pre-existing in the pdb database to obtain ah-amps belonging to the host proteome. we provide in vitro validation of scalpel on plant pathogens ( xylella fastidiosa, xanthomonas arboricola and libe ...	2014	26629331
liberibacter crescens gen. nov., sp. nov., the first cultured member of the genus liberibacter.	the gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterial isolate bt-1(t) is the closest relative to the genus 'candidatus liberibacter' cultured to date. bt-1(t) was recovered from the phloem sap of a defoliating mountain papaya in puerto rico. the bt-1(t) 16s rrna gene sequence showed that strain bt-1(t) is most closely related to members of the genus 'ca. liberibacter' sharing 94.7% 16s rrna gene sequence similarity with 'ca. liberibacter americanus' and 'ca. liberibacter asiaticus'. additionally, averag ...	2014	24786353
prophage-encoded peroxidase in 'candidatus liberibacter asiaticus' is a secreted effector that suppresses plant defenses.	'candidatus liberibacter asiaticus' is transmitted by psyllids and causes huanglongbing (hlb), a lethal disease of citrus. most pathogenic 'ca. l. asiaticus' strains carry two nearly identical prophages similar to sc1 and sc2 in strain uf506. sc2 was observed to replicate as a moderately high-copy excision plasmid encoding a reactive oxygen species-scavenging peroxidase (sc2_gp095), a predicted lysogenic conversion factor. sc2_gp095 was expressed at significantly higher levels in periwinkle than ...	2015	26313412
identification of the genes required for the culture of liberibacter crescens, the closest cultured relative of the liberibacter plant pathogens.	here tn5 random transposon mutagenesis was used to identify the essential elements for culturing liberibacter crescens bt-1 that can serve as antimicrobial targets for the closely related pathogens of citrus, candidatus liberibacter asiaticus (las) and tomato and potato, candidatus liberibacter solanacearum (lso). in order to gain insight on the virulence, metabolism, and culturability of the pathogens within the genus liberibacter, a mini-tn5 transposon derivative system consisting of a gene sp ...	2016	27148230
development of a microemulsion formulation for antimicrobial seca inhibitors.	in our previous study, we have identified five antimicrobial small molecules via structure based design, which inhibit seca of candidatus liberibacter asiaticus (las). seca is a critical protein translocase atpase subunit and is involved in pre-protein translocation across and integration into the cellular membrane in bacteria. in this study, eleven compounds were identified using similarity search method based on the five lead seca inhibitors identified previously. the identified seca inhibitor ...	2016	26963811
functional characterization of lotp from liberibacter asiaticus.	liberibacter asiaticus is an unculturable parasitic bacterium of the alphaproteobacteria group hosted by both citrus plants and a psyllid insect vector (diaphorina citri). in the citrus tree, the bacteria thrive only inside the phloem, causing a systemically incurable and deadly plant disease named citrus greening or huanglongbing. currently, all commercial citrus cultivars in production are susceptible to l. asiaticus, representing a serious threat to the citrus industry worldwide. the technica ...	2017	28378385
a small wolbachia protein directly represses phage lytic cycle genes in "candidatus liberibacter asiaticus" within psyllids.	huanglongbing (hlb) is a severe disease of citrus caused by an uncultured alphaproteobacterium "candidatus liberibacter asiaticus" and transmitted by asian citrus psyllids (diaphorina citri). two prophage genomes, sc1 and sc2, integrated in "ca. liberibacter asiaticus" strain uf506 were described previously, and very similar prophages are found resident in the majority of "ca. liberibacter asiaticus" strains described worldwide. the sc1 lytic cycle is marked by upregulation of prophage late gene ...	2017	28608866
ldtr is a master regulator of gene expression in liberibacter asiaticus.	huanglongbing or citrus greening disease is causing devastation to the citrus industry. liberibacter asiaticus, an obligate intracellular pathogen of citrus, is one the causative agents of the disease. most of the knowledge about this bacterium has been deduced from the in silico exploration of its genomic sequence. l. asiaticus differentially expresses genes during its transmission from the psyllid vector, diaphorina citri, to the plant. however, the regulatory mechanisms for the adaptation of ...	2017	28503858