HOST COLONIZATION DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CITRUS AND COFFEE ISOLATES OF Xylella fastidiosa IN RECIPROCAL INOCULATION

ABSTRACT: Citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) and coffee stem atrophy (CSA) are important diseases in Brazil associated with closely-related strains of Xylella fastidiosa, but little is know about host overlapping and importance of citrus and coffee as inoculum sources of these strains. In this study, reciprocal-inoculation experiments were performed to determine if CVC and CSA isolates are biologically similar within citrus and coffee plants. These two hosts were mechanically inoculated with a CVC and a CSA isolate of X. fastidiosa at four concentrations ranging between103 and 109 colony forming units CFU mL-1. At two, four and eight months after inoculation, the infection efficiency and bacterial populations of the isolates in each host were determined by culturing. The CVC isolate infected both citrus and coffee plants, but developed lower populations in coffee. The CSA isolate did not colonize citrus. Inoculation of coffee plants with the CVC isolate resulted in low rates of infection and required an inoculum concentration ten-fold higher than that necessary to obtain a similar (25%) rate of infection in citrus. The relatively low infection rates and bacterial numbers of the CVC isolate in coffee plants compared with those observed in citrus suggest that coffee is not a suitable host to serve as a source of inoculum of the CVC strain for primary spread to citrus or within coffee plantations. Key words: citrus variegated chlorosis, coffee leaf scorch, inoculum concentration, bacterial population