Abstract:
The banana Xanthomonas wilt epidemic in the Great Lake region of Africa has destroyed banana and is affecting livelihoods of thousands of people who depend on the crop. Currently, there are no banana varieties resistant to the disease. Genetic engineering is the most feasible approach to introduce resistance to the disease in banana. This however requires a good understanding of the underlying genomics of the bacterium. In this study, the capacity of Arabidopsis thaliana to study Xanthomonas strain diversity was evaluated. Two isolates of Xanthomonas campestris (Xcm2251, Xcm4383) and one isolate of Xanthomonas vasicola (Xvv206) were infiltrated into four A. thaliana genotypes. There was variable response by A. thaliana accessions towards the three bacterial strains. The effect of Xanthomonas strains was also significant. It is concluded that A. thaliana can be used for host pathogen interaction studies of Xcm and Xvv.