Project description:Pectobacterium atrosepticum (Pba) is a gram-negative bacterium which causes blackleg and tuber soft rot on potato. To investigate the molecular processes and responses involved in Pba-host (potato) and Pba-non-host (radish) interactions, under laboratory conditions, we used total RNA-sequencing to measure the gene expression patterns from all three species. Samples from infected and non-infected plant roots were collected after fourteen days of inoculation with Pba SCRI_1039 and subjected to total RNA-sequencing on an Illumina sequencing platform.
Project description:Pectobacterium are Gram-negative rods of the family Pectobacteriaceae. They are the causative agent of soft rot diseases of crops and ornamental plants. However, their virulence mechanisms are not yet fully elucidated. Membrane vesicles (MVs) are universally released by bacteria and are be-lieved to play an important role in pathogenicity, and survival of bacteria in the environment. Our study investigates the role of MVs in the virulence of Pectobacterium. The results indicate that the morphology and yields of MVs depend on medium composition. In polygalacturonic acid (PGA) supplemented media, Pectobacterium produce MVs of a larger size (100-300 nm) apart of vesicles below 100 nm. Proteomic analyses revealed the presence of pectate degrading enzymes in MVs. The pectate plate test and enzymatic assay proved that those enzymes are active and able to de-grade pectates. What is more, pathogenicity test indicated that MVs derived from Pectobacterium were able to induce maceration of Zantedeschia sp. leaves. We also show that MVs of β-lactamase producing strains were able to suppress ampicillin activity and permit the growth of susceptible bacteria. Those findings indicate that MVs of Pectobacterium play an important role in host-pathogen interactions and niche competition with other bacteria. Our research also sheds some light on the mechanism of MVs production. We demonstrate that Pectobacterium strains, which overexpress the green fluorescence protein (GFP), produce more MVs than wild type strains. Moreover, proteomic analysis revealed that GFP was present in MVs. Therefore, we demonstrate that protein sequestration into MVs is not limited strictly to periplasmic proteins and is a common occurrence. Our research highlights the importance of MVs production as a mechanism of cargo delivery in Pectobacterium and an alternative secretion system.
