Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/627660
UCDavisplantscientists have identified an enzyme that appears to play a key role in the insect-transmit- ted bacterial infection of grapevines with Pierce's disease, which annually costs California's grape and wine industries more than $100 million. The researchers hope that the discovery, which runs counter to existing theories, will lead to new diagnostics and potential treatments for Pierce's dis- ease. Their findings are re- ported in Scientific Reports, an online journal of the Na- ture Publishing Group, at http://www.nature.com/ar- ticles/srep18598. "With a bacterial disease — much like cancer — if you understandhowthevirulent form spreads, you can better control or remove it, " said Abhaya Dandekar, a profes- sor of plant sciences and se- nior author on the study. "We anticipate that this discovery could open new ways to think about deal- ing with Pierce's disease and highlight other areas of immune response, in gen- eral, that haven't yet been considered," he said. About Pierce's disease Pierce's disease, first identified in the 1890s, is caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa and is characterized by yellowed and browning leaves that eventually drop from the vine. The disease is trans- mitted from vine to vine by small, winged insects called sharpshooters. Pierce's disease is es- tablished in Northern Cal- ifornia, where it is trans- mitted by the blue-green sharpshooter, which lives near rivers and streams. The disease became a seri- ous threat to California ag- riculture in 1996 when the glassywinged sharpshooter — another Pierce's disease carrier native to the South- west — was discovered in the Temecula Valley of Southern California. How infection progresses It'sbeenknownforanum- berofyearsthatwhenXyllela fastidiosa invades a grape- vine, it produces a biofilm or gel in the xylem — the vas- cular tissue that transports water and some nutrients throughout the vine. Scientists have theorized that this biofilm damages the vine by clogging up the xylem, preventing the flow of water to the leaves. That theory seemed to explain the yellowing of the leaf edges and eventual death of the leaf tissue. But not all of the evidence stacked up to fit that theory, Dandekar said. For example aheavyaccumulationofXyl- lela fastidiosa in grapevine leaves was not always ac- companiedbyseveredisease symptoms in leaves. And, in some infected grapevines as well as other host plants, the leaves showed severe symp- toms but the xylem had very little blockage. So Dandekar and col- leagues set out to investi- gate an alternative mecha- nism by which Xyllela fas- tidiosa might be wreaking havoc with the vine's phys- iology. Secrets of the "secre- tome" The research team began by analyzing the bacteria's secretome — the entire col- lection of enzymes and other proteins secreted by a disease-causing agent like Xyllela fastidiosa during the infection process. Such se- creted proteins are known to play key roles in trigger- ing many plant diseases. The resulting data in- dicated that an enzyme, which the researchers named LesA, was quite abundant during Xyllela fastidiosa infections and shared characteristics with similar enzymes known to be capable of breaking down plant cell walls. The researchers went on to confirm their suspicions by demonstrating that a mutant strain of Xyllela fastidiosa bacteria — with a specific gene knocked out, or inactivated — lacked the ability to cause infection in grapevines. "The LesA enzyme has the ability to move through cell membranes, equipping the Xyllela fastidiosa bacte- ria to invade the grapevine and to live in its xylem tis- sues, where it feeds on fat- like compounds called lip- ids," Dandekar says. In this way, the LesA enzyme triggers the pro- cess that causes the typ- ical Pierce's disease leaf damage — a process com- pletely unrelated to the xy- lem blockage and water stress that had previously been thought to cause the symptomatic leaf damage. UCDAVIS Enzyme may cause Pierce's disease in local grapevines Congratulations to Roger Nicholson, Paskenta-Flournoy, Ft. Klamath cattle rancher be- ing named the Tehama County Cattlemen's Man of the Year. Nicholson has been fighting for the ranchers' rights in the ongoing and widely misunderstood bat- tle, to keep over 100,000 head of cattle from be- ing displaced in the Upper Klamath Basin. He is the original co- founder with Ambrose McAuliffe of Water for Life which was started in 1990. More recently he led the charge in the Klamath Ba- sin to come to a compro- mise to provide a stable, sustainable water supply as the Klamath adjudica- tion continues. SanFrancisco memories For years, Beach Blan- ket Babylon has been on my bucket list, since it has been a staple of San Fran- cisco life since June 7, 1974 when a small show that was to run for six weeks opened in the back room of the Savoy Tivoli Restau- rant. But, in those early years Bill and I were in San Francisco for the Jr. Cow Palace with the 4-H and FFA livestock exhibitors, and not going to North Beach to see a show. The performances are Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 5 p.m. Persons un- der 21 not admitted to eve- ning performances. The show is great, and I am ready to return to see it again. Already they have played over 15,000 perfor- mances. BBB is nonstop for 90 minutes of irreverent, amusing, funny spoofs of pop culture, with spectac- ular costumes, and gigan- tic hats. Only 10 singers and dancers, but with all the costume changes you think it is a cast of hun- dreds. There are guest charac- ters, silly song and dance routines, puns, double en- tendres with the orchestra constantly playing in the background. The music was Copaca- bana, two singer/dancers in Carmen Miranda cos- tumes, with tall hats look- ing like clusters of pineap- ples was one example I re- member. Beach Blanket Babylon follows Snow White as she takes a fast-paced journey around the world in search of her "Prince Charming." Along the way she encoun- ters a star-studded, ever- changing line-up of hi- larious pop-culture char- acters including Taylor Swift, Caitlyn Jenner, Pres- ident Barack and Michelle Obama, Donald Trump, Hilary and Bill Clinton, Kim Kardashian, Gover- nor Jerry Brown, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell, Beyoncé, The Royal Family, Vladi- mir Putin, "Orange is the New Black," Nicki Minaj, "Game of Thrones," Chris Christie, Oprah, Lady Gaga and the World Cham- pion San Francisco Giants. The hats, wigs and spec- tacular costumes are daz- zling. The largest hat was in the finale when Snow White is in San Francisco, and a member of the cast had a 15 feet tall San Fran- cisco skyline, that was 15 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Jim Owens Memorial I am looking forward to the 21st annual Jim Owens Memorial Ranch Rodeo, next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23 in the Pauline Davis Pavilion at the fair- grounds. It is also called the JP Ranch Rodeo, be- cause JP was the brand that Jim used on thou- sands of cattle in his day. The first section of the rodeo will be at 4 p.m. on Friday with the en- tire group of teams count- ing about one hundred head of cattle in the fast- est time, then after a cal- cutta auction of the teams we will watch 13 different teams compete in the vari- ous events. Saturday morning the balance of the 26 teams will compete in the events starting at 10 a.m. That night at 530 p.m. are the Dummy Roping Finals for children presented by Brandon Minch, followed by the top six teams com- peting for the prizes. Tickets are $10 each for the first two performances, and $20 for the finals, or $35 for a full pass. Each evening there will be danc- ing to the Pickled Willies following the rodeo. The JP Ranch Rodeo committee of Jill Delfs, Henry Heitman, Tyler Martinez, Judd Miller, Jim Moore, Terrill Ostrum, Kenneth Owens, Bub Ra- gan will be assisted by the next generation consist- ing of J. C. Niesen, Jus- tin Niesen, Mandy Sproul, Amanda Miller, Caleb Heitman, Ty Martinez, Roy Owens, Casey Moore , Dustin Ostrum, and Blaine Ragan. Once again we will be cheering for the local teams from Red Bluff. KO Ranch with Josh Gonzales, Cole Hook, Brian Hum- pries. TX Bar Ranch with Jeremy Pinheiro, JC Nie- sen, Cole Burton. Dou- ble Horseshoe Ranch with Danny Brown, Walt Brown, Wyatt Brown. Vina has Nuttal Live- stock with Austin Whittle, Jessie Nuttal, Logan Nut- tal. From Corning Dean Miller, Justin Niesen, Rob- ert Staley haven't decided on a ranch name yet. Williams has two teams, with Buckhorn Ranch — Daxton Jim, Craig Boyd, Dan Holland. Bar ML Cat- tle Company with C J Cash, Jeff Ballew, Curry Cash. A new team from Or- egon is Sideline Cattle Co.; Lakeview with Gar- rett Kiernan, Missy Boo- zenny, Greg Stokes. Be- atty, OR has Sprague River Ranches with Victor Mad- rigal, Eric Duarte, Cleve Anseth. TNT Cattle Co. from Chiloquin, OR with Jimmy Gallagher, Billy Ward, Jason Duby. Nonella Livestock, Klamath Falls has the family of Mark, Tom and Roger Nonella. Kings River Ranch, Oro- vada, NV has Tim Ma- her, Ross O'Sullivan, Josh Prom. Grass Valley Ranch, Austin, NV has George Bartob, Luke Lancaster, Jim Filipini. Teams from CA include Dry Creek Ranch, Snel- ling with Jamie Silva, Roy Richards, Seth Mielke. Rafter Spade, Hollister has Will Centoni, Lacy Bour- det, Pat Boyle. J H Ranch, Standish with Cole Green, Rob Pyle, Brian Darst. Rice Sparrowk Ranches, Clements with Lee Whit- ney, Rich Rice, Daniel Rice. Dirty Cow Hands, Grenada with Dalton Cash, Erick Durden, Tra- vis Cash. ENG Ranches, San Miguel with Johnny Fiskilini, Darrell Norcut, Danny Leslie. 757 Live- stock, Durham has Adam Nelms, Cooper Stum- baugh, Ricky Fimea. Here & There Cattle Co; Etna has John Reddic, Ri- ley York, Joe Nash. Tejon Ranch, Arvin with Bret Moody, John Donati, Bert Ferrasci. 2015 winners, the C Cup Livestock, Modesto are returning with Chris- tian Streator, Clayton Ed- sall, Joe Clarot. Spring Ranch, Shandon with Craig Giacomelli, Wyatt Bourdet, Frankie Marti- nez. Parker Ranches with Cody King, Cody Parker, Clayton Bacon and Adel Store Team with Dusty Otley, Frank Dominguez, Travis Timm complete the 26 teams in the 21st an- nual JP Ranch Rodeo. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEAN BARTON Water for Life co-founder honored COURTESYPHOTO Watching the 2015JP Ranch Rodeo and commenting on the cattle market were Howard Finn, Ellington Peek and John Rice, Kneeland, California rancher. 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Pizza Restaurant WeDo Alignments, Brakes, Shocks, Struts, Oil Changes, Suspension, Trailer Repairs, Batteries & Wipers 1375MontgomeryRd. Red Bluff, CA 530 529-0797 STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties redbluffdailynews.com • Choice of ad sizes • Free ad design • Free link to your webpage Now Look Here... Get All This ➞ 6,000 guaranteed online ad impressions For $ 99 CallyourDailyNewsadvertisingreptoday! 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