Bacterial cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan acts in systemic suppression of plant immune responses

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Luciano Ariel Rigano - , Fundación Pablo Cassará (Author)
  • Caroline Payette - (Author)
  • Geneviève Brouillard - (Author)
  • Maria Rosa Marano - (Author)
  • Laura Abramowicz - (Author)
  • Pablo Sebastián Torres - (Author)
  • Maximina Yun - , Regeneration of complex structures in adult vertebrates (Junior Research Group) (Author)
  • Atilio Pedro Castagnaro - (Author)
  • Mohamed El Oirdi - (Author)
  • Vanessa Dufour - (Author)
  • Florencia Malamud - (Author)
  • John Maxwell Dow - (Author)
  • Kamal Bouarab - (Author)
  • Adrian Alberto Vojnov - (Author)

Abstract

Although cyclic glucans have been shown to be important for a number of symbiotic and pathogenic bacterium-plant interactions, their precise roles are unclear. Here, we examined the role of cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan in the virulence of the black rot pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris (Xcc). Disruption of the Xcc nodule development B (ndvB) gene, which encodes a glycosyltransferase required for cyclic glucan synthesis, generated a mutant that failed to synthesize extracellular cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan and was compromised in virulence in the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana. Infection of the mutant bacterium in N. benthamiana was associated with enhanced callose deposition and earlier expression of the PATHOGENESIS-RELATED1 (PR-1) gene. Application of purified cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan prior to inoculation of the ndvB mutant suppressed the accumulation of callose deposition and the expression of PR-1 in N. benthamiana and restored virulence in both N. benthamiana and Arabidopsis plants. These effects were seen when cyclic glucan and bacteria were applied either to the same or to different leaves. Cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucan-induced systemic suppression was associated with the transport of the molecule throughout the plant. Systemic suppression is a novel counterdefensive strategy that may facilitate pathogen spread in plants and may have important implications for the understanding of plant-pathogen coevolution and for the development of phytoprotection measures.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2077-2089
Number of pages13
JournalPLANT CELL
Volume19
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2007
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC1955710
Scopus 34547650358

Keywords

Keywords

  • Arabidopsis/immunology, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Immunity, Innate, Plant Diseases/immunology, Plant Leaves/microbiology, Signal Transduction, Time Factors, Tobacco/immunology, Virulence Factors, Xanthomonas campestris/pathogenicity, beta-Glucans/metabolism