Nutritional requirements and biochemical activities of pineapple pink disease bacterial strains from Hawaii

Gluconacetobacter dulcium sp. nov., a novel Gluconacetobacter species from sugar-rich environments

A phylogenomic analysis based on 107 single-copy core genes revealed that three strains from sugar-rich environments, i.e. LMG 1728^T, LMG 1731 and LMG 22058, represented a single, novel Gluconacetobacter lineage with Gluconacetobacter liquefaciens as nearest validly named neighbour. OrthoANIu and digital DNA-DNA hybridization analyses among these strains and Gluconacetobacter type strains confirmed that the three strains represented a novel Gluconacetobacter species. Biochemical characteristics and MALDI-TOF mass spectra allowed differentiation of this novel species from the type strains of G. liquefaciens and other closely related Gluconacetobacter species. We therefore propose to classify strains LMG 1728^T, LMG 1731 and LMG 22058 in the novel species Gluconacetobacter dulcium sp. nov., with LMG 1728^T (=CECT 30142^T) as the type strain.

Acetic Acid Bacterial Biota of the Pink Sugar Cane Mealybug, Saccharococcus sacchari, and Its Environs

Saccharococcus sacchari is the primary colonizer of the developing "sterile" tissue between the leaf sheath and stem of sugar cane. The honeydew secreted by the mealybugs is acidic (about pH 3) and supports an atypical epiphytic microbiota dominated by acetobacter-like bacteria and acidophilic yeast species. However, Erwinia and Leuconostoc species predominate within the leaf sheath pocket region when the mealybugs die out. The unidentified acetobacters were readily isolated from S. sacchari throughout its life cycle and from other genera of mealybugs on sugar cane and various other plants, both above and below ground. No other insect present on sugar cane was a significant vector of acetic acid bacteria. The major factors restricting microbial diversity within the environs of mealybugs were considered to be yeast activity along with bacterial production of acetic acid, ketogluconic acids, and gamma-pyrones, in association with their lowering of pH. The microbial products may aid in suppressing the attack by the parasitic mold Aspergillus parasiticus on mealybugs but could act as attractants for the predatory fruit fly Cacoxenus perspicax.