Conjugative Plasmid Transfer in Xylella fastidiosa Is Dependent on tra and trb Operon Functions.

ABSTRACT: The insect-transmitted plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa is capable of efficient horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and recombination. Natural transformation occurs at high rates in X. fastidiosa, but there also is evidence that certain strains of X. fastidiosa carry native plasmids equipped with transfer and mobilization genes, suggesting conjugation as an additional mechanism of HGT in some instances. Two operons, tra and trb, putatively encoding a conjugative type IV secretion system, are found in some but not all X. fastidiosa isolates, often on native plasmids. X. fastidiosa strains that carry the conjugative transfer genes can belong to different subspecies and frequently differ in host ranges. Using X. fastidiosa strain M23 (X.

SUBMITTER: Burbank LP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5626953 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature