An Indian scientist has made an important step towards understanding a string of diseases that effect citrus fruits, mangoes and pomegranates, newspaper The Times of India reported.

Chandigarh-based Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) scientist Prabhu B Patil, decoded the gene-pattern of Xanthomonas pathogens, which was published in journal Nature.

These pathogens lead to bacterial black spot for mangoes, bacterial canker for citrus fruits and bacterial blight for pomegranates.

"The striking similarities in the genomes of Xanthomonas pathogens that infect diverse fruit crops suggest that India may be the probable region of origin and diversification of these highly specialized fruit pathogens," Patil was quoted as saying.

Patil went to Belgium to get the original/reference strain of the bacteria, but the diseases caused by the pathogens were first noticed in India.

"I wanted to decode the genes of the bacterium and study its evolution. So, the original strain had to be collected. Thereafter, the strain was sent for DNA sequence to know the basic structure of the genes. This was followed by decoding the genes through a special software and analysis."

The mango and citrus pathogens have spread worldwide, while it was found the bacterial diseases that affected mango, pomegranates, citrus fruits and grapes were related.

"This gives the scientists more keys to unlock the mystery behind the disease and where and how it is caused."

Photo: Apsnet

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