July
2008
, Volume
21
, Number
7
Pages
967
-
978
Authors
Solveig Sjöblom,
Heidi Harjunpää,
Günter Brader, and
E. Tapio Palva
Affiliations
Viikki Biocenter, Faculty of Biosciences, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Division of Genetics, University of Helsinki, P.O.Box 56, FIN-00014, Helsinki, Finland
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RelatedArticle
Accepted 12 March 2008.
Abstract
Quorum sensing (QS), a population-density-sensing mechanism, controls the production of the main virulence determinants, the plant cell-wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) of the soft-rot phytopathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. In this study, we used random transposon mutagenesis with a gusA reporter construct to identify two new QS-controlled genes encoding the regulator Hor and a plant ferredoxin-like protein, FerE. The QS control of the identified genes was executed by the QS regulators ExpR1 and ExpR2 and mediated by the global repressor RsmA. Hor was shown to contribute to bacterial virulence at least partly through its control of PCWDE production. Our results showed that FerE contributes to oxidative stress tolerance and in planta fitness of the bacteria and suggest that QS could be central to control of oxidative stress tolerance. The presence of the FerE protein appears to be rather unique in heterotrophic bacteria and suggests an acquisition of the corresponding gene from plant host by horizontal gene transfer.
JnArticleKeywords
Additional keywords:acylhomoserine lactone, AHSL, ExpI, Pectobacterium carotovorum.
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© 2008 The American Phytopathological Society