Both GacS-regulated lipopeptides and the type three secretion system contribute to Pseudomonas cichorii induced necrosis in lettuce and chicory. - 2025
Cichofactin; Cichopeptin; Cyclic lipopeptides; Gac regulon; Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata; Midrib rot; Lipopeptides; Bacterial Proteins; Type III Secretion Systems; Virulence Factors; Virulence Factors/metabolism; Virulence Factors/genetics; Virulence; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Lactuca/microbiology; Cichorium intybus/microbiology; Lipopeptides/metabolism; Lipopeptides/genetics; Plant Diseases/microbiology; Bacterial Proteins/genetics; Bacterial Proteins/metabolism; Pseudomonas/pathogenicity; Pseudomonas/genetics; Pseudomonas/metabolism; Type III Secretion Systems/metabolism; Type III Secretion Systems/genetics; Cichorium intybus; Lactuca; Plant Diseases; Pseudomonas; Microbiology; Molecular Biology
Abstract :
[en] Pseudomonas cichorii SF1-54, the causal agent of lettuce midrib rot disease, produces lipopeptides cichofactins and cichopeptins which are important virulence factors. The GacS/GacA two-component system is well known to regulate production of lipopeptides in pseudomonads. Additionally, the functions of the type three secretion system (T3SS) in P. cichorii-plant interactions are not clarified. In this study, we investigated the role of the GacS-regulated lipopeptides and the T3SS in pathogenicity of P. cichorii SF1-54 on two host plants, chicory and lettuce, by constructing mutants in hrpL, which encodes the key sigma factor to control T3SS expression, and gacS. Compared with the wildtype, the hrpL mutant produced lipopeptides at a similar level but the gacS mutant was strongly impaired in lipopeptide production. The mutant deficient in hrpL did not significantly differ from the wildtype in virulence on chicory and lettuce. The gacS mutant exhibited significantly less symptoms on both host plants compared to the wildtype and the hrpL mutant. Intriguingly, the gacS hrpL-double mutant no longer produced lipopeptides, lost virulence and showed impaired colonization on chicory, but was still weakly virulent on lettuce. Thus, contribution of both the GacS-regulated lipopeptides and T3SS to virulence of P. cichorii SF1-54 is host plant dependent.
Disciplines :
Microbiology
Author, co-author :
Huang, Chien-Jui ; Department of Plants and Crops, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Ghent University, Coupure Links, 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium, Department of Plant Medicine, National Chiayi University, No. 300, Syuefu Rd., 600355, Chiayi, Taiwan, Republic of China. Electronic address: chienjui.huang@mail.ncyu.edu.tw
Pauwelyn, Ellen; Department of Plants and Crops, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Ghent University, Coupure Links, 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium, Inagro Vzw, Ieperseweg 87, 8800, Rumbeke, Belgium
Ongena, Marc ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Microbial technologies
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique UGent - Universiteit Gent CONACYT - National Council of Science and Technology FWO - Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen
Funding text :
This work was financed by the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and technology in Flanders (IWT-Flanders, grant number 050636), by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen, grant number G000210 N), by the INTERREG IV program France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen (Phytobio project), and by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC, grant number 112-2313-B-415-006), Republic of China. M.O. is research director at the F.R.S.-FNRS. We thank L. Franzil (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), I. Delaere (Ghent University) and R. Houthoofd (Inagro) for technical assistance during the experimental work.This work was financed by the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and technology in Flanders (IWT-Flanders, grant number 050636), by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen, grant number G.0002.10N), by the INTERREG IV program France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen (Phytobio project), and by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC, grant number 112-2313-B-415-006), Republic of China. M.O. is research director at the F.R.S.-FNRS. We thank L. Franzil (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), I. Delaere (Ghent University) and R. Houthoofd (Inagro) for technical assistance during the experimental work.
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