Erwinia amylovora expresses fast and simultaneously hrp/dsp virulence genes during flower infection on apple trees.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pathogen entry through host blossoms is the predominant infection pathway of the gram-negative bacterium Erwinia amylovora leading to manifestation of the disease fire blight. Like in other economically important plant pathogens, E. amylovora pathogenicity depends on a type III secretion system encoded by hrp genes. However, timing and transcriptional order of hrp gene expression during flower infections are unknown.

Methodology/principal findings

Using quantitative real-time PCR analyses, we addressed the questions of how fast, strong and uniform key hrp virulence genes and the effector dspA/E are expressed when bacteria enter flowers provided with the full defense mechanism of the apple plant. In non-invasive bacterial inoculations of apple flowers still attache

SUBMITTER: Pester D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3295760 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature