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HpaP modulates type III effector secretion in Ralstonia solanacearum and harbours a substrate specificity switch domain essential for virulence.

ABSTRACT: Many pathogenic bacteria have evolved a type III secretion system (T3SS) to successfully invade their host. This extracellular apparatus allows the translocation of proteins, called type III effectors (T3Es), directly into the host cells. T3Es are virulence factors that have been shown to interfere with the host's immunity or to provide nutrients from the host to the bacteria. The Gram-negative bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum is a worldwide major crop pest whose virulence strongly relies on the T3SS. In R.?solanacearum, transcriptional regulation has been extensively studied. However, very few data are available concerning the role played by type III-associated regulators, such as type III chaperones and T3SS control proteins. Here, we characterized HpaP, a putative type III secretion substrate specificity switch (T3S4) protein of R.?solanacearum which is not secreted by the bacterium or translocated in the plant cells. HpaP self-interacts and interacts with the PopP1 T3E. HpaP modulates the secretion of early (HrpY pilin) and late (AvrA and PopP1 T3Es) type III substrates. HpaP is dispensable for the translocation of T3Es into the host cells. Finally, we identified two regions of five amino acids in the T3S4 domain that are essential for efficient PopP1 secretion and for HpaP's role in virulence on tomato and Arabidopsis thaliana, but not required for HpaP-HpaP and HpaP-PopP1 interactions. Taken together, our results indicate that HpaP is a putative R.?solanacearum?T3S4 protein important for full pathogenicity on several hosts, acting as a helper for PopP1 secretion, and repressing AvrA and HrpY secretion.

SUBMITTER: Lohou D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6638691 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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HpaP modulates type III effector secretion in Ralstonia solanacearum and harbours a substrate specificity switch domain essential for virulence.

Lohou David D Turner Marie M Lonjon Fabien F Cazalé Anne-Claire AC Peeters Nemo N Genin Stéphane S Vailleau Fabienne F

Molecular plant pathology 20140219 6

Many pathogenic bacteria have evolved a type III secretion system (T3SS) to successfully invade their host. This extracellular apparatus allows the translocation of proteins, called type III effectors (T3Es), directly into the host cells. T3Es are virulence factors that have been shown to interfere with the host's immunity or to provide nutrients from the host to the bacteria. The Gram-negative bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum is a worldwide major crop pest whose virulence strongly relies on the ...[more]

PMID: 24405562

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Project description:Ralstonia solanacearum, a widely distributed and economically important plant pathogen, invades the roots of diverse plant hosts from the soil and aggressively colonizes the xylem vessels, causing a lethal wilting known as bacterial wilt disease. By examining bacteria from the xylem vessels of infected plants, we found that R. solanacearum is essentially nonmotile in planta, although it can be highly motile in culture. To determine the role of pathogen motility in this disease, we cloned, characterized, and mutated two genes in the R. solanacearum flagellar biosynthetic pathway. The genes for flagellin, the subunit of the flagellar filament (fliC), and for the flagellar motor switch protein (fliM) were isolated based on their resemblance to these proteins in other bacteria. As is typical for flagellins, the predicted FliC protein had well-conserved N- and C-terminal regions, separated by a divergent central domain. The predicted R. solanacearum FliM closely resembled motor switch proteins from other proteobacteria. Chromosomal mutants lacking fliC or fliM were created by replacing the genes with marked interrupted constructs. Since fliM is embedded in the fliLMNOPQR operon, the aphA cassette was used to make a nonpolar fliM mutation. Both mutants were completely nonmotile on soft agar plates, in minimal broth, and in tomato plants. The fliC mutant lacked flagella altogether; moreover, sheared-cell protein preparations from the fliC mutant lacked a 30-kDa band corresponding to flagellin. The fliM mutant was usually aflagellate, but about 10% of cells had abnormal truncated flagella. In a biologically representative soil-soak inoculation virulence assay, both nonmotile mutants were significantly reduced in the ability to cause disease on tomato plants. However, the fliC mutant had wild-type virulence when it was inoculated directly onto cut tomato petioles, an inoculation method that did not require bacteria to enter the intact host from the soil. These results suggest that swimming motility makes its most important contribution to bacterial wilt virulence in the early stages of host plant invasion and colonization.

Project description:BackgroundRalstonia solanacearum, the causal agent of bacterial wilt, is a genetically diverse bacterial plant pathogen present in tropical and subtropical regions of the world that infects more than 200 plant species, including economically important solanaceous crops. Most strains of R. solanacearum are only pathogenic at temperatures between 25 to 30°C with strains that can cause disease below 20°C considered a threat to agriculture in temperate areas. Identifying key molecular factors that distinguish strains virulent at cold temperatures from ones that are not is needed to develop effective management tools for this pathogen. We compared protein profiles of two strains virulent at low temperature and two strains not virulent at low temperature when incubated in the rhizosphere of tomato seedlings at 30 and 18°C using quantitative 2D DIGE gel methods. Spot intensities were quantified and compared, and differentially expressed proteins were sequenced and identified by mass spectrometry (MS/MS).ResultsFour hundred and eighteen (418) differentially expressed protein spots sequenced produced 101 unique proteins. The identified proteins were classified in the Gene Ontology biological processes categories of metabolism, cell processes, stress response, transport, secretion, motility, and virulence. Identified virulence factors included catalase (KatE), exoglucanase A (ChbA), drug efflux pump, and twitching motility porin (PilQ). Other proteins identified included two components of a putative type VI secretion system. We confirmed differential expression of 13 candidate genes using real time PCR techniques. Global regulators HrpB and HrpG also had temperature dependent expression when quantified by real time PCR.ConclusionsThe putative involvement of the identified proteins in virulence at low temperature is discussed. The discovery of a functional type VI secretion system provides a new potential virulence mechanism to explore. The global regulators HrpG and HrpB, and the protein expression profiles identified suggest that virulence at low temperatures can be partially explained by differences in regulation of virulence factors present in all the strains.

Dataset Information

HpaP modulates type III effector secretion in Ralstonia solanacearum and harbours a substrate specificity switch domain essential for virulence.

Publications

HpaP modulates type III effector secretion in Ralstonia solanacearum and harbours a substrate specificity switch domain essential for virulence.

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