Massive production of butanediol during plant infection by phytopathogenic bacteria of the genera Dickeya and Pectobacterium.

Abstract

Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genera Dickeya and Pectobacterium are broad-host-range necrotrophs which cause soft-rot diseases in important crops. A metabolomic analysis, based on (13)C-NMR spectroscopy, was used to characterize the plant-bacteria interaction. Metabolic profiles revealed a decline in plant sugars and amino acids during infection and the concomitant appearance of a compound identified as 2,3-butanediol. Butanediol is the major metabolite found in macerated tissues of various host plants. It is accumulated during the symptomatic phase of the disease. Different species of Dickeya or Pectobacterium secrete high levels of butanediol during plant infection. Butanediol has been described as a signalling molecule involved in plant/bacterium interactions and, notably, able to induce plant systemic resistance. The bud genes, involved in butanediol production, are conserved in the phytopathogenic enterobacteria of the genera Dickeya, Pectobacterium, Erwinia, Pantoea and Brenneria. Inactivation of the bud genes of Dickeya dadantii revealed that the virulence of budA, budB and budR mutants was clearly reduced. The genes budA, budB and budC are highly expressed during plant infection. These data highlight the importance of butanediol metabolism in limiting acidification of the plant tissue during the development of the soft-rot disease caused by pectinolytic enterobacteria.

• Authors: Géraldine Effantin, Corinne Rivasseau, Marina Gromova, Richard Bligny, Nicole Hugouvieux-Cotte-Pattat
• Journal: Molecular microbiology (Mol Microbiol) Vol. 82 Issue 4 Pg. 988-97 (Nov 2011) ISSN: 1365-2958 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22032684 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Chemical References

• Amino Acids
• Butylene Glycols
• Carbohydrates
• Virulence Factors

Topics

• Amino Acids (analysis)
• Butylene Glycols (metabolism)
• Carbohydrates (analysis)
• Enterobacteriaceae (metabolism, pathogenicity)
• Gene Deletion
• Gene Expression Profiling
• Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
• Genes, Bacterial
• Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
• Metabolome
• Plant Diseases (microbiology)
• Plants (chemistry, microbiology)
• Virulence
• Virulence Factors (genetics)