Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2025

Automating Citrus Budwood Processing for Downstream Pathogen Detection Through Instrument Engineering
Published on: April 21, 2023
Soil Microbial Communities in Lemon Orchards Affected by Citrus Mal Secco Disease
Alexandros Mosca1, Giulio Dimaria1, Daniele Nicotra1
1Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Abstract:
Mal secco is a vascular disease of citrus caused by the mitosporic fungus Plenodomus tracheiphilus. Soil containing infected plant material constitutes an inoculum source for root infections. In this study, the soil bacterial and fungal communities of five lemon orchards located in Syracuse Province (Sicily, Italy) affected by mal secco were analyzed. Soil samples were collected under lemon tree canopies and subjected to total genomic DNA extraction. The fungal DNA was detected through qPCR in all orchards, with variable concentrations. Bacterial and fungal communities were profiled using 16S and ITS amplicon-based high-throughput sequencing, respectively. According to our results, the relative abundances of the most represented bacterial phyla (e.g., Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Acidobacteriota) changed across the orchards, while in the fungal community, the phylum Ascomycota was dominant, with Basidiomycota and Mortierellomycota abundances fluctuating. On the whole, β diversity analysis showed significant variation in the composition of the soil microbial communities across the orchards. This result was confirmed by the analysis of the core community (taxa present at ≥ 75% of total samples), where putative beneficial bacteria resulted in significantly enriched fungus-infected soil samples, suggesting complex microbial interactions. Our findings shed light on the composition and diversity of the soil microbiome in lemon orchards with the occurrence of mal secco infections.
More Related Videos
05:23A Plate Competition Assay As a Quick Preliminary Assessment of Disease Suppression
Published on: October 28, 2018
09:23Specific and Accurate Detection of the Citrus Greening Pathogen Candidatus liberibacter spp. Using Conventional PCR on Citrus Leaf Tissue Samples
Published on: June 29, 2018