Do plant and human pathogens have a common pathogenicity strategy?

Trends Microbiol. 2002 Jun;10(6):269-75. doi: 10.1016/s0966-842x(02)02372-7.

Abstract

Recently, a novel 'two-step' model of pathogenicity has been described that suggests host-cell-derived vasculoproliferative factors play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of bacillary angiomatosis, a disease caused by the human pathogenic bacterium Bartonella henselae. The resulting proliferation of endothelial cells could be interpreted as bacterial pathogens triggering the promotion of their own habitat: the host cell. Similar disease mechanisms are well known in the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which causes crown gall disease. There are notable similarities between the pathogenicity of A. tumefaciens leading to tumourous disease in plants and to the B. henselae-triggered proliferation of endothelial cells in humans. Here, we hypothesize that this pathogenicity strategy might be common to several bacterial species in different hosts owing to shared pathogenicity factors.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens / growth & development
  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens / metabolism*
  • Agrobacterium tumefaciens / pathogenicity
  • Bacteria / pathogenicity*
  • Bacterial Infections / pathology*
  • Cell Division
  • Endothelium, Vascular / pathology*
  • Host-Parasite Interactions*
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological
  • Neoplasms / etiology
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / microbiology*
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology*