Project description:Bacteria use a variety of mechanisms, such as two‐component regulatory systems (TCSs), to rapidly sense and respond to distinct conditions and signals in their host organisms. For example, a type III secretion system (T3SS) is the key determinant of the virulence of the model plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and contains the TCS RhpRS as a key regulator. However, the signal sensed by RhpRS remains unknown. We found that RhpRS directly senses plant-generated polyphenols and responds by switching off P. syringae T3SS via crosstalk with alternative histidine kinases. Through a chemical screen, we identified three natural polyphenols (tannic acid, 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloylglucose and epigallocatechin gallate) that induced the expression of the rhpRS operon in a RhpS-dependent manner.
Project description:Pseudomonas syringae, a Gram-negative plant pathogen, infects more than 50 crops with its type III secretion system (T3SS) and causes severe economic losses around the world. Although the mechanisms of virulence-associated regulators of P. syringae T3SS have been studied for decades, the crosstalk and network underlying these regulators are still elusive. Previously, we have individually studied a group of T3SS regulators, including AefR, HrpS, and RhpRS. In the present study, we found 4 new T3SS regulator genes (envZ, ompR, tsiS and phoQ) via transposon-mediated mutagenesis. Two-component systems EnvZ and TsiS natively regulate T3SS. In order to uncover the crosstalk between 16 virulence-associated regulators, (including AefR, AlgU, CvsR, GacA, HrpL, HrpR, HrpS, MgrA, OmpR, PhoP, PilR, PsrA, RhpR, RpoN, TsiR and Vfr) in P. syringae, we mapped an intricate network named PSVnet (Pseudomonas syringae Virulence Regulatory Network) by combining differentially expression genes in RNA-seq and binding loci in ChIP-seq of all regulators.
Project description:Plant response to pathogen infection varies within a leaf, yet this heterogeneity is not well resolved. We exposed Arabidopsis to Pseudomonas syringae or mock treatment and profiled the transcriptomes of 11,000 individual cells using single-cell RNA sequencing. Integrative analysis of cell populations from Pseudomonas and mock inoculated leaves identified five distinct pathogen responsive cell clusters exhibiting transcriptional responses ranging from immunity to susceptibility. Pseudotime analyses through pathogen infection revealed a continuum of disease progression from an immune to susceptible state. Confocal imaging of promoter reporter lines for pathogen responsive cell clusters visualized immune activated cell clusters surrounding substomatal cavities colonized by bacteria, suggesting immune clusters are sites of early pathogen invasion. Susceptibility cell clusters exhibited more general localization and were highly induced at later stages of infection. Overall, our work uncovers cellular heterogeneity within an infected leaf and provides unique insight into plant differential response to infection at a single-cell level.
Project description:Plant response to pathogen infection varies within a leaf, yet this heterogeneity is not well resolved. We exposed Arabidopsis to Pseudomonas syringae or mock treatment and profiled the transcriptomes of 11,000 individual cells using single-cell RNA sequencing. Integrative analysis of cell populations from Pseudomonas and mock inoculated leaves identified five distinct pathogen responsive cell clusters exhibiting transcriptional responses ranging from immunity to susceptibility. Pseudotime analyses through pathogen infection revealed a continuum of disease progression from an immune to susceptible state. Confocal imaging of promoter reporter lines for pathogen responsive cell clusters visualized immune activated cell clusters surrounding substomatal cavities colonized by bacteria, suggesting immune clusters are sites of early pathogen invasion. Susceptibility cell clusters exhibited more general localization and were highly induced at later stages of infection. Overall, our work uncovers cellular heterogeneity within an infected leaf and provides unique insight into plant differential response to infection at a single-cell level.
Project description:In order to protect themselves from pathogens, plants activate a battery of defense pathways, many of which involve changes in gene expression. We are interested in identifying plant genes that are differentially expressed in response to pathogen exposure, with the ultimate goal of studying the roles of these genes in plant defense. Keywords: disease response
Project description:Plant pathogenic bacteria encounter a drastic increase in apoplastic pH during the early stages of plant immunity. The effects of alkalization on pathogen-host interactions have not been comprehensively characterized. Here we used a global transcriptomic approach to assess the impact of environmental alkalization on Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in vitro. In addition to the Type 3 Secretion System (T3SS), we found expression of genes encoding other virulence factors such as iron uptake, and coronatine biosynthesis to be strongly affected by environmental alkalization. We also found activity of extracytoplasmic function sigma factor, AlgU, was induced at pH 5.5 and suppressed at pH 7.8, which are pH levels that this pathogen would likely experience before and during pattern triggered immunity, respectively. This pH-dependent control requires the presence of periplasmic proteases, AlgW and MucP, that function as part of the environmental sensing system that activates AlgU in specific conditions. This is the first example of pH-dependency of AlgU activity, suggesting a regulatory pathway model where pH affects the proteolysis-dependent activation of AlgU. These results contribute to deeper understanding of the role apoplastic pH has on host-pathogen interactions.
Project description:Purpose: The outcome of host–pathogen interactions is thought to reflect the offensive and defensive capabilities of both players. When plants interact with Pseudomonas syringae, several well-characterized virulence factors contribute to early bacterial pathogenicity, including the type III secretion system (T3SS), which must be activated by signals from the plant and environment to allow the secretion of virulence effectors. The manner in which these signals regulate T3SS activity is still unclear. Conlusion: the analysis revealed that the perception of plant signals from kiwifruit or tomato extracts anticipates T3SS expression in P. syringae pv. actinidiae compared to apoplast-like conditions
Project description:Effector-Triggered Immunity (ETI) and Pattern-Triggered Immunity (PTI) are well-defined modes of plant immunity triggered by recognition of pathogen effector proteins and microbe-associated molecular patterns, respectively. While ETI and PTI network extensively share signaling components, the shared components are used in different ways, resulting in distinct network properties in the model plant Arabidopsis: immunity is highly robust against network perturbations in ETI but relatively sensitive in PTI. However, the molecular mechanism how the shared network leads to the different properties is not known. Here we show that salicylic acid (SA) reponsive genes can respond in the absense of SA during ETI.
Project description:In order to protect themselves from pathogens, plants activate a battery of defense pathways, many of which involve changes in gene expression. We are interested in identifying plant genes that are differentially expressed in response to pathogen exposure, with the ultimate goal of studying the roles of these genes in plant defense. Experiment Overall Design: Whole plants are grown in soil, and individual leaves from 3-4 week old plants are injected with a bacterial suspension, or a mock (5mM MgSO4) control. Approximately five leaves are harvested 24 hours after inoculation and used for RNA preparation, labeling and Affymetrix hybridization.
Project description:Phytopathogens use secreted effector proteins to suppress host immunity and promote pathogen virulence, and there is increasing evidence that the host-pathogen interactome comprises a complex network. In an effort to identify novel interactors of the Pseudomonas syringae effector HopZ1a, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen that identified a previously uncharacterized Arabidopsis protein that we designate HopZ1a Interactor 1 (ZIN1). Additional analyses in yeast and in planta revealed that ZIN1 also interacts with several other P. syringae effectors. We show that an Arabidopsis loss-of-function zin1 mutant is less susceptible to infection by certain strains of P. syringae, while overexpression of ZIN1 results in enhanced susceptibility. Functionally, ZIN1 exhibits topoisomerase-like activity in vitro. Transcriptional profiling of wild-type and zin1 Arabidopsis plants inoculated with P. syringae indicated that ZIN1 regulates a wide range of pathogen-responsive biological processes, although the list of genes more highly expressed in zin1 versus wild-type plants was particularly enriched for ribosomal protein genes. Altogether, these data illuminate ZIN1 as a potential susceptibility hub that interacts with multiple effectors to influence the outcome of plant-microbe interactions.