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PubMed1996

The RsmA- mutants of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Ecc71 overexpress hrpNEcc and elicit a hypersensitive reaction-like response in tobacco leaves.

Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora wild-type strain Ecc71 does not elicit the hypersensitive reaction (HR) in tobacco leaves. By mini-Tn5-Km and chemical mutagenesis we have isolated RsmA- mutants of Ecc71 that produce high basal levels of pectate lyases, polygalacturonase, cellulase, and protease; they also are hypervirulent. The RsmA- mutants, but not their parent strains, elicit an HR-like response in tobacco leaves. This reaction is characterized by the rapid appearance of water soaking followed by tissue collapse and necrosis. The affected areas remain limited to the region infiltrated with bacterial cells, and the symptoms closely resemble a typical HR, e.g., the reactions caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. Moreover, low concentrations of cells of the mini-Tn5-Km insertion RsmA- mutant, AC5070, infiltrated into tobacco leaf tissue prevent elicitation of the rapid necrosis by AC5070 or by P. syringae pv. pisi. Elicitation of the HR-like response by the mutants is not affected by the deficiency of N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, the cell density (quorum) sensing signal. Cloning and sequence analysis have disclosed that E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Ecc71 possesses a homolog of E. chrysanthemi hrpN known to encode an elicitor of the HR; the corresponding Ecc71 gene is designated hrpNEcc. Northern (RNA) blot data show that the level of hrpNEcc mRNA is considerably higher in the RsmA- mutants than in the RsmA+ strains. Moreover, a low copy plasmid carrying the rsmA+ allele severely reduces the level of the hrpNEcc transcripts in the RsmA- mutants. These constructs, like the RsmA+ E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strains, do not elicit the HR-like response. These data taken along with the effects of rsmA on exoenzyme production and pathogenicity (A. Chatterjee et al., 1995, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:1959-1967) demonstrate that this global regulator gene plays a critical role in plant interaction of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Identification of a pathogenicity locus, rpfA, in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora subsp. carotovora that encodes a two-component sensor-regulator protein.

A mutant of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, AH2552, created by a Mud1 insertion was found to be reduced in plant pathogenicity and deficient in extracellular protease and cellulase activity, although it produced normal levels of pectate lyase and polygalacturonase. A cosmid clone, pEC462, was isolated from a wild-type E. carotovora subsp. carotovora DNA library that concomitantly restored pathogenicity and protease and cellulase activities of AH2552 to wild-type levels when present in trans. The genetic locus that was disrupted in AH2552 by insertion of Mud1 has been designated rpfA, for regulator of pathogenicity factors. Sequencing of the rpfA region identified an open reading frame of 2,787 bp, and the predicted 929-amino acid polypeptide shared high identity with several two-component sensor-regulator proteins: BarA from Escherichia coli, ApdA from Pseudomonas fluorescens, PheN from P. tolaasii, RepA from P. viridiflava, LemA from P. syringae pv. syringae, and RpfC from Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. The RpfA locus described in this study encodes a putative sensor kinase protein that is involved in both extracellular protease and cellulase production and the pathogenicity of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora on potato tubers.

Aconitate Hydratase↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of acquired resistance in lesion-mimic transgenic potato expressing bacterio-opsin.

The lesion-mimic mutants of certain plants display necrotic lesions resembling those of the hypersensitive response and activate local and systemic defense responses in the absence of pathogens. We have engineered a lesion-mimic phenotype in transgenic Russet Burbank potato plants through constitutive expression of a bacterio-opsin (bO) proton pump derived from Halobacterium halobium. Transgenic potato plants exhibiting a lesion-mimic phenotype had increased levels of salicylic acid and overexpressed several pathogenesis-related messenger RNAs, all hallmarks of systemic acquired resistance (SAR). The lesion-mimic plants also displayed enhanced resistance to the US1 isolate (A1 mating type) of a fungal pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, a causal agent of late blight disease. In contrast, little resistance was observed against the US8 isolate (A2 mating type) of this pathogen. Furthermore, a majority of the transgenic plants displaying the lesion-mimic phenotype had increased susceptibility to potato virus X. The tubers of these plants were not resistant to the bacterial pathogen Erwinia carotovora. These results indicate that expression of bO can result in the activation of defense responses in transgenic potato plants and show for the first time that bO expression can confer resistance to a pathogenic fungus. However, our results also demonstrate that like SAR, this "engineered" resistance is likely to be limited to certain pathogens and particular cultivars.

Bacteriorhodopsins↗
PubMed1998

Two-component regulators involved in the global control of virulence in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Production of extracellular, plant cell wall degrading enzymes, the main virulence determinants of the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, is coordinately controlled by a complex regulatory network. Insertion mutants in the exp (extracellular enzyme production) loci exhibit pleiotropic defects in virulence and the growth-phase-dependent transcriptional activation of genes encoding extracellular enzymes. Two new exp mutations, designated expA and expS, were characterized. Introduction of the corresponding wild-type alleles to the mutants complemented both the lack of virulence and the impaired production of plant cell wall degrading enzymes. The expA gene was shown to encode a 24-kDa polypeptide that is structurally and functionally related to the uvrY gene product of Escherichia coli and the GacA response regulator of Pseudomonas fluorescens. Functional similarity of expA and uvrY was demonstrated by genetic complementation. The expA gene is organized in an operon together with a uvrC-like gene, identical to the organization of uvrY and uvrC in E. coli. The unlinked expS gene encodes a putative sensor kinase that shows 92% identity to the recently described rpfA gene product from another E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain. Our data suggest that ExpS and ExpA are members of two-component sensor kinase and response regulator families, respectively. These two proteins might interact in controlling virulence gene expression in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Alleles↗
PubMed1999

The response regulator expM is essential for the virulence of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora and acts negatively on the sigma factor RpoS (sigma s).

The main virulence factors of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, the secreted, extracellular cell-wall-degrading enzymes, are controlled by several regulatory mechanisms. We have isolated transposon mutants with reduced virulence on tobacco. One of these mutants, with a mutation in a gene designated expM, was characterized in this study. This mutant produces slightly reduced amounts of extracellular enzymes in vitro and the secretion of the enzymes is also affected. The expM wild-type allele was cloned together with an upstream gene, designated expL, that has an unknown function. The expM gene was sequenced and found to encode a protein with similarity to the RssB/SprE protein of Escherichia coli and the MviA protein of Salmonella typhimurium. These proteins belong to a new type of two-component response regulators that negatively regulate the stability of the Sigma factor RpoS (sigma s) at the protein level. The results of this study suggest that ExpM has a similar function in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora. We also provide evidence that the overproduction of RpoS in the expM mutant is an important factor for the reduced virulence phenotype and that it partly causes the observed phenotype seen in vitro. However, an expM/rpoS double mutant is still affected in secretion of extracellular enzymes, suggesting that ExpM in addition to RpoS also acts on other targets.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Oligogalacturonide-mediated induction of a gene involved in jasmonic acid synthesis in response to the cell-wall-degrading enzymes of the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora.

Identification of Arabidopsis thaliana genes responsive to plant cell-wall-degrading enzymes of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora led to the isolation of a cDNA clone with high sequence homology to the gene for allene oxide synthase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of jasmonates. Expression of the corresponding gene was induced by the extracellular enzymes from this pathogen as well as by treatment with methyl jasmonate and short oligogalacturonides (OGAs). This suggests that OGAs are involved in the induction of the jasmonate pathway during plant defense response to E. carotovora subsp. carotovora attack.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

A potato gene encoding a WRKY-like transcription factor is induced in interactions with Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica and Phytophthora infestans and is coregulated with class I endochitinase expression.

A potato gene encoding a putative WRKY protein was isolated from a cDNA library enriched by suppression subtractive hybridization for sequences upregulated 1 h postinoculation with Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica. The cDNA encodes a putative polypeptide of 172 amino acids, containing a single WRKY domain with a zinc finger motif and preceded by a potential nuclear localization site. St-WRKY1 was strongly upregulated in compatible, but only weakly in incompatible, interactions with Phytophthora infestans where, in all cases, it was coregulated with class I endochitinase, associating its expression with a known defense response. Whereas St-WRKY1 was strongly induced by E. carotovora culture filtrate (CF), confirming it to be an elicitor-induced gene, no such induction was detected after treatment with salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate, ethylene, or wounding. St-WRKY1 was upregulated by treatment of potato leaves with CFs from recombinant Escherichia coli containing plasmids expressing E. carotovora pectate lyase genes pelB and pelD, suggesting that either proteins encoded by these genes, or oligogalacturonides generated by their activity, elicit a potato defense pathway associated with St-WRKY1.

Amino Acid Motifs↗
PubMed2000

Quorum sensing in the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora: the role of expR(Ecc).

The production of the main virulence determinants of the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, the extracellular cell wall-degrading enzymes, is partly controlled by the diffusible signal molecule N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (OHHL). OHHL is synthesized by the product of the expI/carI gene. Linked to expI we found a gene encoding a putative transcriptional regulator of the LuxR-family. This gene, expR(Ecc), is transcribed convergently to the expI gene and the two open reading frames are partially overlapping. The ExpR(Ecc) protein showed extensive amino acid sequence similarity to the repressor EsaR from Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii (formerly Erwinia stewartii subsp. stewartii) and to the ExpR(Ech) protein of Erwinia chrysanthemi. Inactivation of the E. carotovora subsp. carotovora expR(Ecc) gene caused no decrease in virulence or production of virulence determinants in vitro. In contrast, there was a slight increase in the maceration capacity of the mutant strain. The effects of ExpR(Ecc) were probably mediated by changes in OHHL levels. Inactivation of expR(Ecc) resulted in increased OHHL levels during early logarithmic growth. In addition, overexpression of expR(Ecc) caused a clear decrease in the production of virulence determinants and part of this effect was likely to be caused by OHHL binding to ExpR(Ecc). ExpR(Ecc) did not appear to exhibit transcriptional regulation of expI, but the effect on OHHL was apparently due to other mechanisms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Interacting signal pathways control defense gene expression in Arabidopsis in response to cell wall-degrading enzymes from Erwinia carotovora.

We have characterized the role of salicylic acid (SA)-independent defense signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. Use of pathway-specific target genes as well as signal mutants allowed us to elucidate the role and interactions of ethylene, jasmonic acid (JA), and SA signal pathways in this response. Gene expression studies suggest a central role for both ethylene and JA pathways in the regulation of defense gene expression triggered by the pathogen or by plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (CF) secreted by the pathogen. Our results suggest that ethylene and JA act in concert in this regulation. In addition, CF triggers another, strictly JA-mediated response inhibited by ethylene and SA. SA does not appear to have a major role in activating defense gene expression in response to CF. However, SA may have a dual role in controlling CF-induced gene expression, by enhancing the expression of genes synergistically induced by ethylene and JA and repressing genes induced by JA alone.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2000

A two-component regulatory system, pehR-pehS, controls endopolygalacturonase production and virulence in the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Genes coding for the main virulence determinants of the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora, the plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, are under the coordinate control of global regulator systems including both positive and negative factors. In addition to this global control, some virulence determinants are subject to specific regulation. We have previously shown that mutations in the pehR locus result in reduced virulence and impaired production of one of these enzymes, an endopolygalacturonase (PehA). In contrast, these pehR strains produce essentially wild-type levels of other extracellular enzymes including pectate lyases and cellulases. In this work, we characterized the pehR locus and showed that the DNA sequence is composed of two genes, designated pehR and pehS, present in an operon. Mutations in either pehR or pehS caused a Peh-negative phenotype and resulted in reduced virulence on tobacco seedlings. Complementation experiments indicated that both genes are required for transcriptional activation of the endopolygalacturonase gene, pehA, as well as restoration of virulence. Structural characterization of the pehR-pehS operon demonstrated that the corresponding polypeptides are highly similar to the two-component transcriptional regulators PhoP-PhoQ of both Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Functional similarity of PehR-PehS with PhoP-PhoQ of E. coli and S. typhimurium was demonstrated by genetic complementation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Effects of the two-component system comprising GacA and GacS of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora on the production of global regulatory rsmB RNA, extracellular enzymes, and harpinEcc.

Posttranscriptional regulation mediated by the regulator of secondary metabolites (RSM) RsmA-rsmB pair is the most important factor in the expression of genes for extracellular enzymes and HarpinEcc in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. RsmA is a small RNA-binding protein, which acts by lowering the half-life of a mRNA species. rsmB specifies an untranslated regulatory RNA and neutralizes the RsmA effect. It has been speculated that GacA-GacS, members of a two-component system, may affect gene expression via RsmA. Because expA, a gacA homolog, and expS (or rpfA), a gacS homolog, have been identified in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora, we examined the effects of these gacA and gacS homologs on the expression of rsmA, rsmB, and an assortment of exoprotein genes. The gacA gene of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain 71 stimulated transcription of genes for several extracellular enzymes (pel-1, a pectate lyase gene; peh-1, a polygalacturonase gene; and celV, a cellulase gene), hrpNEcc (an E. carotovora subsp. carotovora gene specifying the elicitor of hypersensitive reaction), and rsmB in GacA+ and GacS+ E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strains. Similarly, the E. carotovora subsp. carotovora gacA gene stimulated csrB (rsmB) transcription in Escherichia coli. A GacS- mutant of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain AH2 and a GacA- mutant of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Ecc71 compared with their parent strains produced very low levels of rsmB, pel-1, peh-1, celV, and hrpNEcc transcripts but produced similar levels of rsmA RNA and RsmA protein as well as transcripts of hyperproduction of extracellular enzymes (Hex) hexA, kdgR (repressor of genes for uronate and pectate catabolism), rsmC, and rpoS (gene for Sigma-S, an alternate Sigma factor). The levels of rsmB, pel-1, peh-1, celV, and hrpNEcc transcripts as well as production of pectate lyase, polygalacturonase, cellulase, protease, and HarpinEcc proteins were stimulated in GacS- and GacA- mutants by GacS+ or GacA+ plasmids, respectively. The GacA effect on exoenzyme genes and hrpNEcc was abrogated in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora mutants deficient in RsmA and RsmC or RsmA, RsmC, and rsmB RNA. The expression of lacZ transcriptional fusions of rsmB of Erwinia amylovora and Erwinia herbicola pv. gypsophilae was markedly reduced in a GacA- and a GacS- mutant of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae. Southern blot hybridization revealed the presence of gacA and gacS homologs in all tested strains of soft-rotting Erwinia spp. and several nonsoft-rotting Erwinia species such as E. amylovora, E. rhapontici, E. herbicola, E. stewartii, and E. herbicola pv. gypsophilae. These findings establish that the GacA-GacS system controls transcription of rsmB of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora, E. amylovora, and E. herbicola pv. gypsophilae and support the hypothesis that the effects of this two-component system on extracellular protein production in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora is mediated, at least in part, via the levels of rsmB transcripts.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗
PubMed2001

Global regulators ExpA (GacA) and KdgR modulate extracellular enzyme gene expression through the RsmA-rsmB system in Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora.

The production of the main virulence determinants, the extracellular plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, and hence virulence of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora is controlled by a complex regulatory network. One of the global regulators, the response regulator ExpA, a GacA homolog, is required for transcriptional activation of the extracellular enzyme genes of this soft-rot pathogen. To elucidate the mechanism of ExpA control as well as interactions with other regulatory systems, we isolated second-site transposon mutants that would suppress the enzyme-negative phenotype of an expA (gacA) mutant. Inactivation of kdgR resulted in partial restoration of extracellular enzyme production and virulence to the expA mutant, suggesting an interaction between the two regulatory pathways. This interaction was mediated by the RsmA-rsmB system. Northern analysis was used to show that the regulatory rsmB RNA was under positive control of ExpA. Conversely, the expression of rsmA encoding a global repressor was under negative control of ExpA and positive control of KdgR. This study indicates a central role for the RsmA-rsmB regulatory system during pathogenesis, integrating signals from the ExpA (GacA) and KdgR global regulators of extracellular enzyme production in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed2001

Type III secretion contributes to the pathogenesis of the soft-rot pathogen Erwinia carotovora: partial characterization of the hrp gene cluster.

The virulence of soft-rot Erwinia species is dependent mainly upon secreted enzymes such as pectinases, pectin lyases, and proteases that cause maceration of plant tissue. Some soft-rot Erwinia spp. also harbor genes homologous to the hypersensitive reaction and pathogenesis (hrp) gene cluster, encoding components of the type III secretion system. The hrp genes are essential virulence determinants for numerous nonmacerating gram-negative plant pathogens but their role in the virulence of soft-rot Erwinia spp. is not clear. We isolated and characterized 11 hrp genes of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. Three putative sigmaL-dependent Hrp box promoter sequences were found. The genes were expressed when the bacteria were grown in Hrp-inducing medium. The operon structure of the hrp genes was determined by mRNA hybridization, and the results were in accordance with the location of the Hrp boxes. An E. carotovora strain with mutated hrcC, an essential hrp gene, was constructed. The hrcC- strain was able to multiply and cause disease in Arabidopsis, but the population kinetics were altered so that growth was delayed during the early stages of infection.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2001

Transgenic plants producing the bacterial pheromone N-acyl-homoserine lactone exhibit enhanced resistance to the bacterial phytopathogen Erwinia carotovora.

Bacterial pheromones, mainly different homoserine lactones, are central to a number of bacterial signaling processes, including those involved in plant pathogenicity. We previously demonstrated that N-oxoacyl-homoserine lactone (OHL) is essential for quorum sensing in the soft-rot phytopathogen Erwinia carotovora. In this pathogen, OHL controls the coordinate activation of genes encoding the main virulence determinants, extracellular plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs), in a cell density-dependent manner. We suggest that E. carotovora employ quorum sensing to avoid the premature production of PCWDEs and subsequent activation of plant defense responses. To test whether modulating this sensory system would affect the outcome of a plant-pathogen interaction, we generated transgenic tobacco, producing OHL. This was accomplished by ectopic expression in tobacco of the E. carotovora gene expI, which is responsible for OHL biosynthesis. We show that expI-positive transgenic tobacco lines produced the active pheromone and partially complemented the avirulent phenotype of expI mutants. The OHL-producing tobacco lines exhibited enhanced resistance to infection by wild-type E. carotovora. The results were confirmed by exogenous addition of OHL to wild-type plants, which also resulted in increased resistance to E. carotovora.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed2002

Constitutive expression of hrap gene in transgenic tobacco plant enhances resistance against virulent bacterial pathogens by induction of a hypersensitive response.

Hypersensitive response-assisting protein (HRAP) has been previously reported as an amphipathic plant protein isolated from sweet pepper that intensifies the harpin(Pss)-mediated hypersensitive response (HR). The hrap gene has no appreciable similarity to any other known sequences, and its activity can be rapidly induced by incompatible pathogen infection. To assess the function of the hrap gene in plant disease resistance, the CaMV 35S promoter was used to express sweet pepper hrap in transgenic tobacco. Compared with wild-type tobacco, transgenic tobacco plants exhibit more sensitivity to harpin(Pss) and show resistance to virulent pathogens (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci and Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora). This disease resistance of transgenic tobacco does not originate from a constitutive HR, because endogenous level of salicylic acid and hsr203J mRNA showed similarities in transgenic and wildtype tobacco under noninfected conditions. However, following a virulent pathogen infection in hrap transgenic tobacco, hsr203J was rapidly induced and a micro-HR necrosis was visualized by trypan blue staining in the infiltration area. Consequently, we suggest that the disease resistance of transgenic plants may result from the induction of a HR by a virulent pathogen infection.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Regulation of Erwinia carotovora hrpL(Ecc) (sigma-L(Ecc)), which encodes an extracytoplasmic function subfamily of sigma factor required for expression of the HRP regulon.

In Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora (Ecc) strain 71 (Ecc71), HrpL(Ecc), an alternate sigma factor of the extracytoplasmic function subfamily, plays a central role in the expression of the hrp (hypersensitive reaction and pathogenicity) regulon. We document here that sigma-54 (RpoN) is required for full expression of hrpL(Ecc) and that HrpS, in conjunction with sigma-54, activates hrpL(Ecc) transcription. We also made the novel observation that integration host factor is required for the activation of the hrpL(Ecc) promoter. Our findings reveal that the RsmA/rsmB RNA-mediated post-transcriptional system, known to control extracellular enzyme and harpin production, affects hrpL(Ecc) expression as well. For example, hrpL(Ecc) RNA levels are barely detected in an RsmB- strain. Conversely, hrpL(Ecc) mRNA levels are much higher in RsmA- bacteria than in the RsmA+ parent. This effect is due to RsmA-promoted decay of hrpL(Ecc) RNA. Moreover, the following regulators known to control the production of either RsmA, rsmB RNA, or both also affect hrpL(Ecc) expression: GacA (response regulator of a two-component system), KdgR (an IcII type repressor), HexA (a LysR type repressor), RsmC (a putative transcriptional adapter). Based upon the data now available for Ecc and extrapolating from the evidence in other systems, we propose a tentative model that depicts the Hrp regulatory system of Ecc and explains the basis for coregulation of extracellular enzyme production and expression of the Hrp regulon.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Oxidative burst elicited by Bacillus mycoides isolate Bac J, a biological control agent, occurs independently of hypersensitive cell death in sugar beet.

Response of sugar beet cultivars C40 and USH11 to syringe infiltration of live and dead Bacillus mycoides isolate Bac J, a biological control agent, and virulent and avirulent isolates of Erwinia carotovora pv. betavasculorum was measured by monitoring systemic acquired resistance control of Cercospora beticola, specific activity of chitinase and beta-glucanase, the oxidative burst, and hypersensitive cell death at the infiltration site. Priming sugar beet with B. mycoides Bac J (1 x 10(8) cells/ml) and avirulent isolates of E. carotovora pv. betavasculorum (1 x 10(6) cells/ml) reduced C. beticola symptoms by nearly 70% on distal, untreated leaves. Systemic resistance responses elicited by live B. mycoides Bac J and avirulent E. carotovora pv. betavasculorum isolates, measured by assays for chitinase and beta-glucanase, were statistically equivalent, and biphasic hydrogen peroxide production was observed. Although similar in timing, the second hydrogen peroxide burst was twofold lower for B. mycoides Bac J than for avirulent E. carotovora pv. betavasculorum. Hypersensitive cell death was elicited by avirulent E. carotovora pv. betavasculorum but not B. mycoides Bac J. An oxidative burst was elicited by spray-applied B. mycoides Bac J under both light and green light conditions, indicating that the signal produced by B. mycoides Bac J was not reliant on the stomata for entry into sugar beet. A working model for signal delivery and systemic resistance induction by B. mycoides Bac J in sugar beet is proposed.

Bacillus↗
PubMed2003

Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora and Erwinia-derived elicitors HrpN and PehA trigger distinct but interacting defense responses and cell death in Arabidopsis.

We have used an hrp-positive strain of the soft rot pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora to elucidate plant responses to this bacterial necrotroph. Purified virulence determinants, harpin (HrpN) and polygalacturonase (PehA), were used as tools to facilitate this analysis. We show that HrpN elicits lesion formation in Arabidopsis and tobacco and triggers systemic resistance in Arabidopsis. Establishment of resistance is accompanied by the expression of salicylic acid (SA)-dependent, but also jasmonate/ethylene (JA/ET)-dependent, marker genes PR1 and PDF1.2, respectively, suggesting that both SA-dependent and JA/ET-dependent defense pathways are activated. Use of pathway-specific mutants and transgenic NahG plants show that both pathways are required for the induction of resistance. Arabidopsis plants treated simultaneously with both elictors PehA, known to trigger only JA/ET-dependent defense signaling, and HrpN react with accelerated and enhanced induction of the marker genes PR1 and PDF1.2 both locally and systemically. This mutual amplification of defense gene expression involves both SA-dependent and JA/ET-dependent defense signaling. The two elicitors produced by E. carotovora subsp. carotovora also cooperate in triggering increased production of superoxide and lesion formation.

Apoptosis↗