Bacteria establish an aqueous living space in plants crucial for virulence.
Published
Journal Article
High humidity has a strong influence on the development of numerous diseases affecting the above-ground parts of plants (the phyllosphere) in crop fields and natural ecosystems, but the molecular basis of this humidity effect is not understood. Previous studies have emphasized immune suppression as a key step in bacterial pathogenesis. Here we show that humidity-dependent, pathogen-driven establishment of an aqueous intercellular space (apoplast) is another important step in bacterial infection of the phyllosphere. Bacterial effectors, such as Pseudomonas syringae HopM1, induce establishment of the aqueous apoplast and are sufficient to transform non-pathogenic P. syringae strains into virulent pathogens in immunodeficient Arabidopsis thaliana under high humidity. Arabidopsis quadruple mutants simultaneously defective in a host target (AtMIN7) of HopM1 and in pattern-triggered immunity could not only be used to reconstitute the basic features of bacterial infection, but also exhibited humidity-dependent dyshomeostasis of the endophytic commensal bacterial community in the phyllosphere. These results highlight a new conceptual framework for understanding diverse phyllosphere-bacterial interactions.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Xin, X-F; Nomura, K; Aung, K; Velásquez, AC; Yao, J; Boutrot, F; Chang, JH; Zipfel, C; He, SY
Published Date
- November 2016
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 539 / 7630
Start / End Page
- 524 - 529
PubMed ID
- 27882964
Pubmed Central ID
- 27882964
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1476-4687
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0028-0836
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1038/nature20166
Language
- eng