Plant-like bacterial expansins play contrasting roles in two tomato vascular pathogens.

ABSTRACT: Expansin proteins, which loosen plant cell walls, play critical roles in normal plant growth and development. The horizontal acquisition of functional plant-like expansin genes in numerous xylem-colonizing phytopathogenic bacteria suggests that bacterial expansins may also contribute to virulence. To investigate the role of bacterial expansins in plant diseases, we mutated the non-chimeric expansin genes (CmEXLX2 and RsEXLX) of two xylem-inhabiting bacterial pathogens, the Actinobacterium Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. michiganensis (Cmm) and the β-proteobacterium Ralstonia solanacearum (Rs), respectively. The Cmm ΔCmEXLX2 mutant caused increased symptom development on tomato, which was characterized by more rapid wilting, greater vascular necrosis and abundant atypical lesions on distant

SUBMITTER: Tancos MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5835177 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature