DgcA, a diguanylate cyclase from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae regulates bacterial pathogenicity on rice

Sci Rep. 2016 May 19:6:25978. doi: 10.1038/srep25978.

Abstract

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is the causal agent of rice blight disease as well as a serious phytopathogen worldwide. It is also one of the model organisms for studying bacteria-plant interactions. Current progress in bacterial signal transduction pathways has identified cyclic di-GMP as a major second messenger molecule in controlling Xanthomonas pathogenicity. However, it still remains largely unclear how c-di-GMP regulates the secretion of bacterial virulence factors in Xoo. In this study, we focused on the important roles played by DgcA (XOO3988), one of our previously identified diguanylate cyclases in Xoo, through further investigating the phenotypes of several dgcA-related mutants, namely, the dgcA-knockout mutant ΔdgcA, the dgcA overexpression strain OdgcA, the dgcA complemented strain CdgcA and the wild-type strain. The results showed that dgcA negatively affected virulence, EPS production, bacterial autoaggregation and motility, but positively triggered biofilm formation via modulating the intracellular c-di-GMP levels. RNA-seq data further identified 349 differentially expressed genes controlled by DgcA, providing a foundation for a more solid understanding of the signal transduction pathways in Xoo. Collectively, the present study highlights DgcA as a major regulator of Xoo virulence, and can serve as a potential target for preventing rice blight diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Biofilms
  • Cyclic GMP / analogs & derivatives
  • Cyclic GMP / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / genetics
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
  • Mutation
  • Oryza / microbiology*
  • Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases / genetics
  • Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases / metabolism*
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Virulence Factors / genetics
  • Virulence Factors / metabolism
  • Xanthomonas / enzymology
  • Xanthomonas / genetics
  • Xanthomonas / pathogenicity*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial
  • Virulence Factors
  • bis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid
  • Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases
  • diguanylate cyclase
  • Cyclic GMP