Seeds and their pathogens

Mailen Ortega

B. Sc. Microbiologist

M.Sc. Microbiology and Bioanalysis

Ph.D. Student in Biotechnology

email: mailen.ortegac@gmail.com

Working with me since 2018

Publications

Tofino-Rivera A., Chinchilla-Sanchez K., Ortega-Cuadros M. 2016. In vitro evaluation of agrochemicals compatibility, bioinputs and essential oils for the control of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides isolated from red pepper. Vitae: v.23 fasc. p.478 – 482.

Tofino-Rivera A., Royero-Lopez L., Ortega-Cuadros M. 2016. In vitro agrochemicals compatibility, bioinputs and essential oil in control of Macrophomina phaseolina isolated from beans. Vitae: v.23 fasc. p.473 – 477.

Ortega-Cuadros M., Tofiño-Rivera A., Mena-Álvarez O., Martínez Pabón MC., Galvis-Pareja D., Merini L. 2016. Microbial activity of Lippia alba and Cymbopogon citratus essential oils on Streptococcus mutans and cytotoxicity in CHO cells. Vitae: v.23 fasc. p.503 - 506, 2016.

Tofino-Rivera A., Ortega-Cuadros M., Galvis-Pareja D., Jiménez-Ríos H., Merini L., Martínez Pabón MC. 2016. Effect of Lippia alba and Cymbopogon citratus essential oils on biofilms of Streptococcus mutans and Cytotoxicity in CHO Cells. Journal of Ethnopharmacology: v.194. p.1 – 16.

Tofino-Rivera A., Ortega-Cuadros M., Melo-Ríos A., Mier Giraldo H. 2017. Technological surveillance of aromatic species: from research to a productive chain consolidation in Colombia. Corpoica Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria: v.18. p.1 - 25, 2017.

Tofino-Rivera A., Ortega-Cuadros M., Herrera-Hinojosa B., Fragoso-Castilla P., Pedraza-Claros B. 2017. Microbiological conservation of carnic products using essential oils Eugenia caryophyllata and Thymus vulgaris. Biotecnología en el Sector Agropecuario y Agroindustrial: v.15. p.30 - 42, 2017.

Mena-Rodriguez E., Ortega-Cuadros M., Merini L., Melo-Ríos A., Tofiño-Rivera A. 2018. Effect of agricultural inputs and essential oils on vegetables crops soils in the Colombia's Caribbean region. Corpoica Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria: v. 19. p. 1-23, 2018.

Tofino-Rivera A., Ortega-Cuadros M., Pedraza-Claros B., Perdomo S., Moya D. 2018. Effectiveness of Beauveria bassiana (Baubassil®) on the common cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus in the Department of Guajira, Colombia. Revista Argentina de Microbiología v. 50. p. 1-5.

Ortega-Cuadros M., Tofino-Rivera A., Merini L., Martínez Pabón MC. 2018. Antimicrobial activity of Cymbopogon citratus essential oils on Streptococcus mutans biofilm and cytotoxic effect on keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Revista de Biologia Tropical v. 66 (4). p. 1519-1529.

Ortega-Cuadros M y Tofiño-Rivera A. 2019. Exploratory review of the antibacterial and antifungal activity of Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. Br (bushy matgrass). Revista cubana de Plantas Medicinales V. 24 (1). p. 1-14.

Ortega-Cuadros M., Acosta de Guevara EE., Molina Castillo AD., Gutiérrez Castañeda C., Castro Amarís G., Tofiño-Rivera AP. 2020. Essential oils biological activity of the shrub Lippia alba (Verbenaceae). Revista de Biología Tropical. V. 68 (1). P 344-359

RNA-Seq studies and selection assisted by molecular markers for the control of fungal pathogens transmitted in seeds

Vegetable pathogens are spread in seeds. The treatment of diseases is done with fungicides, but these pollute the environment and are toxic to living beings. In this work, we will look for candidate genes regulated during the pathogen-seed interaction. Also, SNPs will be called to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in the attack of Arabidopsis seeds by Alternaria.

Alternaria infection process in Brassica cultivars from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM) will be studied. Antifungal effect of essential oils (EA) of Cymbopogon spp. produced by natives of the SNSM that are being used for disease control will be evaluated in Brassica seeds. The food security and microeconomies of the indigenous peoples of the SNSM will be positively impacted, and a pilot study will be obtained to control pathogens in seeds with possible application to other regional and national horticultural systems. In the long term, it is intended to reduce the use of fungicides by generating more successful and economical treatments based on bio-inputs.

Former member of my lab, now in:

PhD Student in Biosciences at Newcastle University with a studentship from FMS Barbour Foundation" and "NUORS scholarship"

Juliana Arcila

B.S. Biological Engenieer, National University of Colombia, Medellin

M.S. Genetics and Cell Biology, Universities Autónoma de Madrid, Complutense y de Alcalá, Spain

Worked with me 2016-2019


Publications

● Arcila, JE, R. Arango, J. Torres, T. Arias. 2021.. Special Issue: Molecular Phylogenetics and Mitochondrial Evolution”. Revisiting the origin of the Sigatoka disease complex using fossil calibrated phylogenies: mitochondrial genomes suggest later diversification times and pathogen host-tracking evolution. Life 11, 215 https://doi.org/10.3390/life11030215

● Serna-Sánchez, M. A., Pérez-Escobar, O. A. , Bogarín D. , Torres M.F., Alvarez-Yela A. C., Arcila J. E Hall C. F., de Barros F., Pinheiro F., Dodsworth S., Chase M. W, Antonelli A., Arias T. 2021. Plastid phylogenomics resolves ambiguous relationships within the orchid family and provides a solid timeframe for biogeography and macroevolution. Scientific Reports 11:6858.


The mitochondrial genome of a plant fungal pathogen Pseudocercospora fijiensis (Mycosphaerellaceae) and diversification times of the Sigatoka disease complex using fossil calibrated phylogenies

Mycosphaerellaceae is a highly diverse fungal family containing a variety of pathogens affecting many economically important crops. In this study, we made a comparative analysis of the mitochondrial genomes of selected Mycosphaerellaceaemembers to reconstruct evolutionary history paying particular attention to the Sigatoka Disease Complex species. We recovered mitochondrial genomes of five Mycosphaerellaceae phytopathogens from data available in public databases, compared their structure and organization, and use their electron transport chain (ETC) genes to build phylogenies. A robust mitochondrial phylogeny was recovered agreeing with previous published nuclear phylogenies. Using fossil calibrated Bayesian phylogenies we found later diversification times for Mycospharellaceae and the Sigatoka disease complex compared to previous studies. An early divergent Pseudocercospora fijiensis splits from the sister species P. musae + P. eumusae 16,43 MYA while the sister species P. eumusae and P. musae split from their shared ancestor in the late Miocene 10,62 MYA. These newly dated phylogeny suggest that species belonging to he Sigatoka disease complex originated after wild relatives of domesticated bananas (section Eumusae; 27.9 MYA). Here, we proposed the origin of the Sigatoka disease complex through a “host-tracking hypothesis.” Where the pathogen is likely to be younger than the host until changes related to the genetics of the pathogens or/and exogenous factors have prompted the observed alterations in their virulence. Additionally, we found that mitogenomes had high size variability and gene order among closely related organisms. Size variation is due to the presence of trunctated extra gene copies, intron mobile sequences and accessory genes of presumable plasmid origin in some species. Gene orden variability is atributed to rearrangements through their evolutionary history. This is the first publication of a Mycoshaerellacea phylogeny built with mitochondrial markers and also the first study of comparative biology among mitogenomes in this family.


Former shared postdoc of my lab and the fungisem team INRA, France

Nubia Velasquez

Ph.D. in Plant Pathology 2011 Auburn University Auburn, AL

Worked with me 2018-2019

email: Nubia.Velasquez@inra.fr



Publications

  • Velásquez N, Hossain MJ and Murphy JF 2014. Differential disease symptoms and full-length genome

sequence analysis for three strains of Tobacco etch virus. Virus genes 50: 442-449.

  • Velásquez N and Murphy JF 2013. Tobacco etch virus NW isolate that overcomes pvr1 and pvr12 resistance in Capsicum sp. Plant Pathology

  • Velasquez N, Suh S-J and Murphy JF 2012. Electroporetic transfection of pepper protoplasts with plant

potyviruses. Journal of Virological Methods 179: 154-160.

  • Masiri J, Velasquez NV and Murphy JF 2010. Cucumber mosaic virus 2b-deficient mutant causes limited, asymptomatic infection of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum). Plant Disease. 95: 331-336

  • Coneva E, Murphy JF, Boozer R and Velasquez N. 2010. Incidence and distribution of viruses in blackberry in Alabama. Plant Health Progress. International Journal of Fruit Science. 10: 87-95

  • Villanueva D, Velasquez N, Rodríguez E, Orduz S and Arango R. 2009. Molecular characterization of a Colombian Bacillus thuringiensis strain with activity against Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Revista Colombiana de Entomología 35 (2): 130-137

  • Valderrama, AM, Velasquez N, Rodriguez E, Zapata A, Zaidi MA, Altosaar I, and Arango R. 2007. Resistance to Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in three transgenic andean varieties of potato expressing Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac Protein. J. Econ. Entomol. 100(1): 172-179.

  • Velasquez N., Rodriguez, E and Arango R. 2005 ELISA and RT-PCR for diagnosis of two major viruses affecting orchids. Fitopatología 40(3):161-169.

Disease notes:

  • Coneva E, Murphy JF, Boozer R and Velasquez N. 2008. First report of Tobacco ringspot virus in Blackbery (Rubus sp.) in Alabama. Plant Disease 92(12):1708

  • Olaya C, Velasquez N, Betancourt M, Cuellar W and Pappu HR 2017. First report of natural infection of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and bell pepper (Capsicum annum) by Alstroemeria necrotic streak virus in Colombia. Plant Disease (http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-16-1396-PDN)

Books:

  • Velasquez N, Gaviria BM, Navarro R, Palacio MM. Síntomas del Virus de la marchitez moteada del tomate (TSWV) en Crisantemo en el Valle de San Nicolás. En: Colombia 2013. ed: Fondo Editorial Universidad Católica de Oriente ISBN: 978-958-8385-72-3 v.5000, 25 pages.

  • Velasquez N, Rodriguez E, Arango R. El Virus del Mosaico del Cymbidium, el Virus de la Mancha anular del Odontoglossum y su control. En: Colombia 2005. ed: Digital Express ISBN: 958-9400-89-2 v. 500, 20 pages

Glucosinolate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana could illustrate a trade-off between fungal pathogen infection and dormancy release

Infectious cycle of Alternaria brassicicola

(Guillemette, 2011)



Transmission of seed-born pathogens from seed to seedling is a main cause of epidemics in crops. Yet, plant mechanisms controlling microbial vertical transmission through the germination are not documented. Based on the Arabidopsis thaliana - Alternaria brassicicola pathosystem, a transcriptomic analysis has illustrated potential involvement of plant metabolic and defense pathways in the germinating seed interaction with the necroprophic pathogens. The contribution of the respective candidate genes in seed vigor and in the control of pathogen transmission is investigated by a reverse genetics. A high throughput phenotyping tool will be developed to characterize germination vigor and the sensitivity to Alternaria brassicicola and will be used to screen knock out Arabidopsis mutants altered in the candidate genes. Using the selected genes, mechanism controlling transmission will be illustrated among Arabidopsis natural diversity and domesticated Brassicaceae crop species.