Genetic organization of the lexA,recA and recX genes in Xanthomonas campestris

A gene cluster containing lexA, recA and recX genes was previously identified and characterized in Xanthomonas campestris pathovar citri (X. c. pv. citri). We have now cloned and sequenced the corresponding regions in the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (X. c. pv. campestris) and Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae (X. o. pv. oryzae) chromosome. Sequence analysis of these gene clusters showed significant homology to the previously reported lexA, recA and recX genes. The genetic linkage and the deduced amino acid sequences of these genes displayed very high identity in different pathovars of X. campestris as well as in X. oryzae. Immunoblot analysis revealed that the over-expressed LexA protein of X. c. pv. citri functioned as a repressor of recA expression in X. c. pv. campestris, indicating that the recombinant X. c. pv. citri LexA protein was functional in a different X. campestris pathovar. The abundance of RecA protein was markedly increased upon exposure of X. c. pv. campestris to mitomycin C, and an upstream region of this gene was shown to confer sensitivity to positive regulation by mitomycin C on a luciferase reporter gene construct. A symmetrical sequence of TTAGTAGTAATACTACTAA present within all three Xanthomonas lexA promoters and a highly conserved sequence of TTAGCCCCATACCGAA present in the three regulatory regions of recA indicate that the SOS box of Xanthomonas strains might differ from that of Escherichia coli.     

Pathogenicity, Non-Host Hypersensitivity and Host Defence Non-Permissibility Regulatory Gene hrpX is Highly Conserved in Xanthomonas Pathovars

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris and X. oryzae pv, oryzae contain the 1428 base pair hrpX gene whose product is involved in the regulation oi hrp genes required for pathogericity, non-host hypersensitivity and non-permissibility of compatible host defence responses. Previous Southern blot hybridization studies have suggested that hrpX is conserved in several X. campestris pathovars and X. oryzae. strains. We have confirmed and extended these findings using hrpX gene amplification by polymerase chain reaction, coupled with Southern blot hybridization analyses. Sixteen distinct pathovars of X. campestris and 12 strains of X. oryzae pv, oryzae were shown to contain homologs of hrpX which were not apparent in heterologous bacteria such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens, A. rhizogenes, Erwinia carolovora ssp. carotovora, Pseudomonas syringae pv, glycinea. P. syringae pv, labaci , and Escherichia coli. The hrpX gene is therefore highly conserved among Xanthomonas species and its gene product strongly resembles positive regulatory proteins of the AraC protein family,     

Transaldolase exhibits a protective role against menadione toxicity in Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli

A talA gene encoded transaldolase, a rate-limiting enzyme in the non-oxidative branch of the pentose-phosphate pathway, was cloned from Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli. talA located in a region of the bacterial genome rich in genes involved in oxidative stress protection and regulation. TalA from X. campestris pv. phaseoli showed a high degree of homology to many previously reported transaldolases from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic sources. The expression of X. campestris pv. phaseoli talA was high at log-phase of growth, then declined at stationary phase, and could not be induced by oxidants. A talA mutant constructed by insertional inactivation did not possess any detectable transaldolase activity. Lack of a functional talA gene did not affect bacterial growth in a rich medium containing glucose or sucrose as a carbon source. However, the talA knockout mutant showed increased sensitivity to the superoxide generator menadione, but not to other oxidants. This increased menadione sensitivity phenotype could be complemented by expression of talA in a plasmid vector. The data demonstrated a novel and essential role of transaldolase in protection against menadione toxicity in X. campestris.     

Identification and expression profiling of tomato genes differentially regulated during a resistance response to Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria

The gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria is the causal agent of spot disease in tomato and pepper. Plants of the tomato line Hawaii 7981 are resistant to race T3 of X. campestris pv. vesicatoria expressing the type III effector protein AvrXv3 and develop a typical hypersensitive response upon bacterial challenge. A combination of suppression subtractive hybridization and microarray analysis identified a large set of cDNAs that are induced or repressed during the resistance response of Hawaii 7981 plants to X. campestris pv. vesicatoria T3 bacteria. Sequence analysis of the isolated cDNAs revealed that they correspond to 426 nonredundant genes, which were designated as XRE (Xanthomonas-regulated) genes and were classified into more than 20 functional classes. The largest functional groups contain genes involved in defense, stress responses, protein synthesis, signaling, and photosynthesis. Analysis of XRE expression kinetics during the tomato resistance response to X. campestris pv. vesicatoria T3 revealed six clusters of genes with coordinate expression. In addition, by using isogenic X. campestris pv. vesicatoria T2 strains differing only by the avrXv3 avirulence gene, we found that 77% of the identified XRE genes were directly modulated by expression of the AvrXv3 effector protein. Interestingly, 64% of the XRE genes were also induced in tomato during an incompatible interaction with an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. The identification and expression analysis of X. campestris pv. vesicatoria T3-modulated genes, which may be involved in the control or in the execution of plant defense responses, set the stage for the dissection of signaling and cellular responses activated in tomato plants during the onset of spot disease resistance.     

Characterization of stress-responsive genes, hrcA-grpE-dnaK-dnaJ, from phytopathogenic Xanthomonas campestris

Sequencing of a 6.4-kb DNA fragment, cloned from the plant pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris 17 revealed five ORFs whose deduced amino acid sequences show strong similarities to the bacterial HrcA, GrpE, DnaK, DnaJ, and PdxK. The four heat shock genes are organized in the order hrcA-grpE-dnaK-dnaJ, a genome organization found in many gram-positive bacteria, but only in one gram-negative species (Xylella fastidiosa). These observations suggest that the HrcA-CIRCE system, comprising at least four genes arranged in this order, already existed for the regulation of stress responses before bacteria diverged into gram-negative and gram-positive groups. Primer-extension results suggested the presence of promoters at the regions upstream of grpE and dnaK. In the presence of stress, heat or ethanol (4%), the X. campestris pv. campestris 17 grpE and dnaK promoters were induced two- to three-fold over controls. Since the grpE and dnaK promoters possess E. coli sigma(32) promoter-like sequences, they are functional in E. coli, although at levels much lower than in X. campestris pv. campestris 17. Furthermore, expression of the X. campestris pv. campestris 17 dnaK promoter in E. coli was elevated by the cloned X. campestris sigma(32) gene, indicating that the cognate sigma(32) works more efficiently for the X. campestris promoters.     

Differential expression of conserved protease genes in crucifer-attacking pathovars of Xanthomonas campestris.

Strains of Xanthomonas campestris pathovars armoraciae and raphani, which cause leaf spotting diseases in brassicas, produce a major extracellular protease in liquid culture which was partially purified. The protease (PRT 3) was a zinc-requiring metalloenzyme and was readily distinguishable from the two previously characterized proteases (PRT 1 and PRT 2) of X. campestris pv. campestris by the pattern of degradation of beta-casein and sensitivity to inhibitors. PRT 3 was produced at a low level in the vascular brassica pathogen X. campestris pv. campestris (five strains tested), in which PRT 1 and PRT 2 predominate. In contrast, expression of PRT 1, a serine protease, could not be detected in the six tested strains of the leaf spotting mesophyll pathogens. However, all these strains had DNA fragments which hybridized to a prtA probe and which probably carry a functional prtA (the structural gene for PRT 1). The structural gene for PRT 3 (prtC) was cloned by screening a genomic library of X. campestris pv. raphani in a protease-deficient X. campestris pv. campestris strain. Subcloning and Tn5 mutagenesis located the structural gene to 1.2 kb of DNA. DNA fragments which hybridized to the structural gene were found in all strains of the crucifer-attacking X. campestris pathovars tested as well as in a number of other pathovars. Experiments in which the pattern of protease production of the pathovars was manipulated by introduction of cloned genes into heterologous pathovars suggested that no determinative relationship exists between the pattern of protease gene expression and the (vascular or mesophyllic) mode of pathogenesis.     

Restoration of pathogenicity of avirulent Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and X. campestris pathovars by reciprocal complementation with the hrpXo and hrpXc genes and identification of HrpX function by sequence analyses.

The molecular basis of pathogenesis by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae has been partly elucidated by the identification of a gene, hrpXo, required for bacterial blight on rice. A mutation in hrpXo results in the loss of pathogenicity on rice and the loss of hypersensitivity on nonhosts such as Datura stramonium and radishes. Pathogenicity and its ability to cause the hypersensitive reaction is restored by complementing the mutant with the heterologous hrpXc gene derived from X. campestris pv. campestris. Conversely, hrpXo complements nonpathogenic mutants of X. campestris pv. campestris and X. campetstris pv, armoraciae. Mutants bearing the heterologous hrpX gene are restored in their abilities to cause diseases typical of their chromosomal background and not the hypersensitive reaction on their respective hosts. The hrpXo and hrpXc genes are therefore functionally equivalent, and this functional equivalence extends into X. campestris pv. armoraciae and possibly into other X. campestris pathovars, since this gene is highly conserved among eight other pathovars tested. Sequence analyses of hrpXo revealed an open reading frame of 1,452 bp with a coding capacity for a protein of 52.3 kDa. The protein contains a consensus domain for possible protein myristoylation whose consequence may result in a loss of recognition by host defense and surveillance systems.     

Effector-triggered innate immunity contributes Arabidopsis resistance to Xanthomonas campestris

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, the causal agent of black rot disease, depends on its type III secretion system (TTSS) to infect cruciferous plants, including Brassica oleracea, B. napus and Arabidopsis. Previous studies on the Arabidopsis-Pseudomonas syringae model pathosystem have indicated that a major function of TTSS from virulent bacteria is to suppress host defences triggered by pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Similar analyses have not been made for the Arabidopsis-X. campestris pv. campestris pathosystem. In this study, we report that X. campestris pv. campestris strain 8004, which is modestly pathogenic on Arabidopsis, induces strong defence responses in Arabidopsis in a TTSS-dependent manner. Furthermore, the induction of defence responses and disease resistance to X. campestris pv. campestris strain 8004 requires NDR1 (NON-RACE-SPECIFIC DISEASE RESISTANCE1), RAR1 (required for Mla12 resistance) and SGT1b (suppressor of G2 allele of skp1), suggesting that effector-triggered immunity plays a large role in resistance to this strain. Consistent with this notion, AvrXccC, an X. campestris pv. campestris TTSS effector protein, induces PR1 expression and confers resistance in Arabidopsis in a RAR1- and SGT1b-dependent manner. In rar1 and sgt1b mutants, AvrXccC acts as a virulence factor, presumably because of impaired resistance gene function.     

Expression of a subcloned alpha-amylase gene under the control of a Xanthomonas campestris promoter

Abstract Using the promoter probe pKK232-8 a 0.6-kb fragment containing an active promoter sequence from Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris was cloned. Two new plasmids were constructed: (a) pAP2, which contains the amy gene from Bacillus subtilis cloned between the Eco RI and Hin dIII sites in the pMFY40 plasmid, and (b) pAP2X, obtained after introduction of the cloned X. campestris promoter upstream from the amy gene. These plasmids were introduced into amylolytic and non-amylolytic strains of X. campestris pv campestris and pv manihotis , respectively. Quantification of alpha-amylase specific activity in liquid culture showed that the introduction of a Xanthomonas promoter doubled the expression of amy gene when the host strain was the pathovar campestris but had little effect on the strain from pathovar manihotis . This difference in the promoter activity might indicate that the cloned promoter is specific and could be involved in pathovar differentiation or plant-pathogen interaction.     

XopR, a type III effector secreted by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, suppresses microbe-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is the causal agent of bacterial blight of rice. The XopR protein, secreted into plant cells through the type III secretion apparatus, is widely conserved in xanthomonads and is predicted to play important roles in bacterial pathogenicity. Here, we examined the function of XopR by constructing transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing it under control of the dexamethasone (DEX)-inducible promoter. In the transgenic plants treated with DEX, slightly delayed growth and variegation on leaves were observed. Induction of four microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-specific early-defense genes by a nonpathogenic X. campestris pv. campestris hrcC deletion mutant were strongly suppressed in the XopR-expressing plants. XopR expression also reduced the deposition of callose, an immune response induced by flg22. When transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana, a XopR::Citrine fusion gene product localized to the plasma membrane. The deletion of XopR in X. oryzae pv. oryzae resulted in reduced pathogenicity on host rice plants. Collectively, these results suggest that XopR inhibits basal defense responses in plants rapidly after MAMP recognition.     

Unusual structure of the tonB-exb DNA region of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris: tonB, exbB, and exbD1 are essential for ferric iron uptake, but exbD2 is not.

The nucleotide sequence of a 3.6-kb HindIII-SmaI DNA fragment of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris revealed four open reading frames which, based on sequence homologies, were designated tonB, exbB, exbD1, and exbD2. Analysis of translational fusions to alkaline phosphatase and beta-galactosidase confirmed that the TonB, ExbB, ExbD1, and ExbD2 proteins are anchored in the cytoplasmic membrane. The TonB protein of X. campestris pv. campestris lacks the conserved (Glu-Pro)n and (Lys-Pro)m repeats but harbors a 13-fold repeat of proline residues. By mutational analysis, the tonB, exbB, and exbD1 genes were shown to be essential for ferric iron import in X. campestris pv. campestris. In contrast, the exbD2 gene is not involved in the uptake of ferric iron.