Infection by Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum' haplotypes A and B in Solanum lycopersicum 'Moneymaker'

'Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum' is a plant pathogen associated with diseases affecting several crops of the Solanaceae and Apiaceae families. Two 'Ca. L. solanacearum' haplotypes (LsoA and LsoB) infect solanaceous crops in North America and are transmitted by the tomato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli. Although both 'Ca. L. solanacearum' haplotypes cause zebra chip in potato, the diseases associated with each haplotype in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) have not been described. 'Ca. L. solanacearum'-infected tomato plants exhibit symptoms resembling those of permanent yellowing disease (known in Mexico as "permanente del tomate") and sometimes called psyllid yellows. In this study, the symptoms associated with each 'Ca. L. solanacearum' haplotype in tomato were compared, and the bacterial abundance in different nodes of the plants was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Surprisingly, both plant phenotype and bacterium distribution were different between LsoA- and LsoB-infected plants. Plants infected with LsoB died prematurely, whereas those infected with LsoA did not. Across the measured time points, LsoB abundance in infected plants was consistent with previous reports describing a sink to source gradient, while such gradient was only observed in LsoA-infected plants early after infection. This is the first report describing the differences in symptoms in tomato associated with two 'Ca. L. solanacearum' haplotypes, LsoA and LsoB.