Naturally occurring nonpathogenic isolates of the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae lack a type III secretion system and effector gene orthologues

Contributions of the effector gene hopQ1-1 to differences in host range between Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola and P. syringae pv. tabaci

To study the role of type III-secreted effectors in the host adaptation of the tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci, a selection of seven strains was first characterized by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to determine their phylogenetic affinity. MLST revealed that all strains represented a tight phylogenetic group and that the most closely related strain with a completely sequenced genome was the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) pathogen P. syringae pv. phaseolicola 1448A. Using primers designed to 21 P. syringae pv. phaseolicola 1448A effector genes, it was determined that P. syringae pv. phaseolicola 1448A shared at least 10 effectors with all tested P. syringae pv. tabaci strains. Six of the 11 effectors that failed to amplify from P. syringae pv. tabaci strains were individually expressed in one P. syringae pv. tabaci strain. Although five effectors had no effect on phenotype, growth in planta and disease severity of the transgenic P. syringae pv. tabaci expressing hopQ1-1(Pph1448A) were significantly increased in bean, but reduced in tobacco. We conclude that hopQ1-1 has been retained in P. syringae pv. phaseolicola 1448A, as this effector suppresses immunity in bean, whereas hopQ1-1 is missing from P. syringae pv. tabaci strains because it triggers defences in Nicotiana spp. This provides evidence that fine-tuning effector repertoires during host adaptation lead to a concomitant reduction in virulence in non-host species.

The evolution of Pseudomonas syringae host specificity and type III effector repertoires

The discovery 45 years ago that many Pseudomonas syringae pathovars elicit the hypersensitive response in plant species other than their hosts fostered the use of these bacteria as experimental models. However, the basis for host specificity and the corresponding resistance of nonhosts remain unclear. Pseudomonas syringae is now known to inject into the host cytoplasm, via the type III secretion system, effector proteins that suppress basal innate immunity, but may be recognized by cognate resistance (R) proteins in a second level of defence. The identification and manipulation of complete repertoires of type III effectors have revealed the highly polymorphic nature of effector repertoires and their potential to limit the host range. However, the maintenance of compatible effector repertoires may be driven by adaptations to life in a given plant species involving many factors. Tools are now available to test several hypotheses for the nature and evolution of P. syringae host specificity and nonhost resistance.

Phylogeny and virulence of naturally occurring type III secretion system-deficient Pectobacterium strains

Pectobacterium species are enterobacterial plant-pathogenic bacteria that cause soft rot disease in diverse plant species. Previous epidemiological studies of Pectobacterium species have suffered from an inability to identify most isolates to the species or subspecies level. We used three previously described DNA-based methods, 16S-23S intergenic transcribed spacer PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, to examine isolates from diseased stems and tubers and found that MLSA provided the most reliable classification of isolates. We found that strains belonging to at least two Pectobacterium clades were present in each field examined, although representatives of only three of five Pectobacterium clades were isolated. Hypersensitive response and DNA hybridization assays revealed that strains of both Pectobacterium carotovorum and Pectobacterium wasabiae lack a type III secretion system (T3SS). Two of the T3SS-deficient strains assayed lack genes adjacent to the T3SS gene cluster, suggesting that multiple deletions occurred in Pectobacterium strains in this locus, and all strains appear to have only six rRNA operons instead of the seven operons typically found in Pectobacterium strains. The virulence of most of the T3SS-deficient strains was similar to that of T3SS-encoding strains in stems and tubers.