Project description:Copper-resistant strains of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria were previously shown to carry plasmid-borne copper resistance genes related to the cop and pco operons of Pseudomonas syringae and Escherichia coli, respectively. However, instead of the two-component (copRS and pcoRS) systems determining copper-inducible expression of the operons in P. syringae and E. coli, a novel open reading frame, copL, was found to be required for copper-inducible expression of the downstream multicopper oxidase copA in X. axonopodis. copL encodes a predicted protein product of 122 amino acids that is rich in histidine and cysteine residues, suggesting a possible direct interaction with copper. Deletions or frameshift mutations within copL, as well as an amino acid substitution generated at the putative start codon of copL, caused a loss of copper-inducible transcriptional activation of copA. A nonpolar insertion of a kanamycin resistance gene in copL resulted in copper sensitivity in the wild-type strain. However, repeated attempts to complement copL mutations in trans failed. Analysis of the genomic sequence databases shows that there are copL homologs upstream of copAB genes in X. axonopodis pv. citri, X. campestris pv. campestris, and Xylella fastidiosa. The cloned promoter area upstream of copA in X. axonopodis pv. vesicatoria did not function in Pseudomonas syringae or in E. coli, nor did the P. syringae cop promoter function in Xanthomonas. However, a transcriptional fusion of the Xanthomonas cop promoter with the Pseudomonas copABCDRS was able to confer resistance to copper in Xanthomonas, showing divergence in the mechanisms of regulation of the resistance to copper in phytopathogenic bacteria.
Project description:To compare the early transcriptional changes that occur in sweet orange leaves in response to Xanthomonas citri versus Xanthomonas aurantifolii pathotype C infection, plant leaves infiltrated with each bacterial pathogen were examined by RNAseq.
Project description:Iron is essential for the growth and survival of many organisms. Intracellular iron homeostasis must be maintained for cell survival and protection against iron toxicity. The ferric uptake regulator protein (Fur) regulates the high-affinity ferric uptake system in many bacteria. To investigate the function of the fur gene in Xanthomonas vesicatoria (Xv), we generated a fur mutant strain, fur-m, by site-directed mutagenesis. Whereas siderophore production increased in the Xv fur mutant, extracellular polysaccharide production, biofilm formation, swimming ability and quorum sensing signals were all significantly decreased. The fur mutant also had significantly reduced virulence in tomato leaves. The above-mentioned phenotypes significantly recovered when the Xv fur mutation allele was complemented with a wild-type fur gene. Thus, Fur either negatively or positively regulates multiple important physiological functions in Xv.
Project description:The phytopathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas vesicatoria is the causative agent of bacterial spot disease in various Solanaceae family members. Here, we describe the complete genome sequence of XaF13, a novel filamentous phage that infects the phytopathogenic bacterium X. vesicatoria The 7,045-bp genome is predicted to encode 14 open reading frames, 7 of which are related to those of other filamentous Xanthomonas phages.
Project description:Transcription profiling of the DSF regulon in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) using wild type and the rpfF mutant. Cell-cell signaling mediated by the quorum sensing molecule known as Diffusible Signaling factor (DSF) is required for virulence of Xanthomonas group of plant pathogens. DSF in different Xanthomonas and the closely related plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa regulates diverse traits in a strain specific manner. The transcriptional profiling performed in this study is to elucidate the traits regulated by DSF from the Indian isolate of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, which exhibits traits very different from other Xanthomonas group of plant pathogen. In this study, transcription analysis was done between a wild type Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae strain and an isogenic strain that has a mutation in the DSF biosynthetic gene rpfF.