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A correction to the article "Cyclic di-GMP Signalling in the Virulence and Environmental Adaptation of Xanthomonas Campestris," by Robert P. Ryan and colleagues is presented.

A number of species of bacteria from the genus B urkholderia have been shown to be causal agents of diseases of rice. These diseases, caused by B urkholderia glumae, B . gladioli and B . plantarii, are becoming increasingly common across the globe. This is particularly so for B . glumae, whose ability to grow at elevated temperatures suggests that it may become a prevalent problem in an era of global warming. Despite the increasing threat to rice, relatively little is known about the virulence mechanisms employed by these pathogens. Work over the last 5 years has provided an increasing insight into these factors and their control by environmental and other cues. In addition, the determination of a number of genome sequences has allowed bioinformatic predictions of further possible mechanisms, which can now be investigated experimentally. Here, we review recent advances in the understanding of virulence of B urkholderia to rice, to include discussion of the roles of toxins, type II secreted enzymes, type III secreted effectors and motility as well as their regulation by quorum sensing, two-component systems and cyclic di- GMP signalling. Finally, we consider a number of approaches for the control of bacterial virulence through the modulation of quorum sensing and toxin degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bacterial phytopathogen X anthomonas campestris pv. campestris ( Xcc) relies on the hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) genes to cause disease and induce hypersensitive response ( HR). The hrp genes of bacterial phytopathogens are divided into two groups. Xcc hrp genes belong to group II. It has long been known that the group II hrp genes are activated by an AraC-type transcriptional regulator whose expression is controlled by a two-component system ( TCS) response regulator (named HrpG in Xcc). However, no cognate sensor kinase has yet been identified. Here, we present evidence showing that the Xcc open-reading frame XC _3670 encodes a TCS sensor kinase (named HpaS). Mutation of hpaS almost completely abolished the HR induction and virulence. Bacterial two-hybrid and protein pull-down assays revealed that HpaS physically interacted with HrpG. Phos-tag™ SDS-PAGE analysis showed that mutation in hpaS reduced markedly the phosphorylation of HrpG in vivo. These data suggest that HpaS and HrpG are most likely to form a TCS. We also showed that XC _3669 (named hpaR2), which is adjacent to hpaS and encodes a putative TCS response regulator, is required for full virulence but not HR induction. HpaR2 also physically interacted with HpaS, suggesting that HpaS may also form another TCS with HpaR2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ColR–ColS two-component signal transduction system was originally characterized as a regulatory system involved in the capacity of root-colonizing biocontrol bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens to colonize plant roots. There are three pairs of putative colR–colS two-component regulatory systems annotated in the phytopathogen Xanthomonas campestris pathovar campestris. Mutational studies revealed that one of them, named colRXC1049 and colSXC1050 , is a global regulatory system involved in various cellular processes, including virulence, hypersensitive response and stress tolerance. Growth rate determination showed that, although the colRXC1049 and colSXC1050 mutants are not auxotrophic, colRXC1049 and colSXC1050 are required for the pathogen to proliferate well in standard media and host plants. Assays of β-glucuronidase activities of plasmid-driven promoter-gusA reporters and/or semi-quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that colRXC1049 and colSXC1050 positively regulate expression of hrpC and hrpE operons, and that expression of colRXC1049 and colSXC1050 is not controlled by key hrp regulators HrpG and HrpX. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: XopN was originally identified from Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria as an effector translocated into plant cells via the type III secretion system (T3SS), and is required for pathogenicity. We report here that the xopN homologue in the X. campestris pv. campestris genome, named xopXccN, also encodes a T3SS effector and is required for full virulence. We further demonstrate that expression of xopXccN is positively regulated by the key hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) regulators HrpG and HrpX. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cyclic di-GMP is a second messenger with a role in regulation of a range of cellular functions in diverse bacteria including the virulence of pathogens. Cellular levels of cyclic di-GMP are controlled through synthesis, catalysed by the GGDEF protein domain, and degradation by EAL or HD-GYP domains. Here we report a comprehensive study of cyclic di-GMP signalling in bacterial disease in which we examine the contribution of all proteins with GGDEF, EAL or HD-GYP domains to virulence and virulence factor production in the phytopathogen Xanthomonas campestris pathovar campestris ( Xcc). Genes with significant roles in virulence to plants included those encoding proteins whose probable function is in cyclic-di-GMP synthesis as well as others (including the HD-GYP domain regulator RpfG) implicated in cyclic di-GMP degradation. Furthermore, RpfG controlled expression of a subset of these genes. A partially overlapping set of elements controlled the production of virulence factors in vitro. Other GGDEF-EAL domain proteins had no effect on virulence factor synthesis but did influence motility. These findings indicate the existence of a regulatory network that may allow Xcc to integrate information from diverse environmental inputs to modulate virulence factor synthesis as well as of cyclic di-GMP signalling systems dedicated to other specific tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xanthomonas TALE transcriptional activators act as virulence or avirulence factors by activating host disease susceptibility or resistance genes. Their specificity is determined by a tandem repeat domain. Some Xanthomonas pathogens contain 10-30 TALEs per strain. Although TALEs play critical roles in pathogenesis, their studies have so far been limited to a few examples, due to their highly repetitive gene structure and extreme similarity among different members, which constrict sequencing and assembling. To facilitate TALE studies, we developed an efficient and rapid pipeline for genome-wide cloning of tal genes as many as possible from a strain. Here, we report the pipeline and its use to identify all 18 tal genes from a newly isolated strain of the rice pathogen Xathomonas oryzae. Target prediction revealed a number of potential rice targets including several notable genes such as genes encoding SWEET, WRKY, Hen1, and BAK1 proteins, which provide candidates for further experimental functional analysis of the TALEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]