Copper-induced stress mechanisms in <i>Erwinia amylovora</i>: a comparative phenotypic and transcriptomic study using copper-sensitive and -tolerant strains.

ABSTRACT: Erwinia amylovora causes fire blight of apple and pear. Among the management strategies, copper-based treatments are widely used to control the disease. However, the impact of copper on the pathogen is not uniform, and different strains show different tolerance levels to the heavy metal. Upon identifying E. amylovora strains with unusually high (EaR2 and Ea17) and intermediate (Ea19) copper sensitivity, we conducted phenotypic and transcriptomic analyses to understand the basis of these differences. The highly copper-sensitive strains EaR2 and Ea17 grew slower, showed increased sensitivity to paraquat and cadmium, and developed a characteristic copper-dependent overproduction of amylovoran and levan, with patterns not observed in strain Ea273, with regular copper tolerance. C

SUBMITTER: Santander RD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12542790 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature