Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (2015) 28, 1374-1382

M. Caroline Roper, Lindsey P. Burbank, Kayla Williams, Polrit Viravathana, Hsin-Yu Tien and Susanne von Bodman (2015)
A large repetitive RTX-like protein mediates water-soaked lesion development, leakage of plant cell content and host colonization in the Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii pathosystem
Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 28 (12), 1374-1382
Abstract: Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii is the etiological agent of Stewart's wilt and is a serious bacterial pathogen affecting sweet corn. During the leaf blight phase, P. stewartii colonizes the leaf apoplast and causes a characteristic water-soaked lesion. The Hrp type III secretion system has been implicated in the water-soaking phenotype, and the goal of this study was to investigate other potential factors that contribute to the plant cellular disruption associated with these lesions. The P. stewartii genome contains a gene encoding a large repetitive RTX toxin, designated rtx2. RTX toxins comprise a large family of pore-forming proteins, which are widely distributed among gram-negative bacteria. These cytotoxins usually lyse their target host cells and cause significant tissue damage as a consequence. We hypothesized that this RTX-like toxin plays a role in the water-soaking phase of infection due to its predicted cytolytic properties. Based on the data reported here, we conclude that RTX2 contributes significantly to the development of water-soaked lesions and leakage of plant cellular contents and is an important pathogenicity factor for P. stewartii.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Pantoea stewartii