Orchestration of virulence factor expression and modulation of biofilm dispersal in Erwinia amylovora through activation of the Hfq-dependent small RNA RprA.

ABSTRACT: Erwinia amylovora is the causative agent of the devastating disease fire blight of pome fruit trees. After infection of host plant leaves at apple shoot tips, E. amylovora cells form biofilms in xylem vessels, restrict water flow, and cause wilting symptoms. Although E. amylovora is well known to be able to cause systemic infection, how biofilm cells of E. amylovora transit from the sessile mode of growth in xylem to the planktonic mode of growth in cortical parenchyma remains unknown. Increasing evidence has suggested the important modulatory roles of Hfq-dependent small RNAs (sRNAs) in the pathogenesis of E. amylovora. Here, we demonstrate that the sRNA RprA acts as a positive regulator of amylovoran exopolysaccharide production, the type III secretion system (T3SS), and flagellar-depend

SUBMITTER: Peng J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7814967 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature