Pantoea ananatis is an emerging plant pathogen that causes disease in economically important crops such as rice, corn, onion, melon, and pineapple, and it also infects humans and insects. In this study, we identified biosynthetic gene clusters of aerobactin and desferrioxamine E (DFO-E) siderophores by using the complete genome of P. ananatis PA13 isolated from rice sheath rot. P. ananatis PA13 exhibited the strongest antibacterial activity against Erwinia amylovora and Yersinia enterocolitica (Enterobacterales). Mutants of aerobactin or DFO-E maintained antibacterial activity against E. amylovora and Y. enterocolitica, as well as in a siderophore activity assay. However, double aerobactin and DFO-E gene deletion mutants completely lost siderophore and antibacterial activity. These results reveal that both siderophore biosynthetic gene clusters are essential for siderophore production and antibacterial activity in P. ananatis PA13. A ferric uptake regulator protein (Fur) mutant exhibited a significant increase in siderophore production, and a Fur-overexpressing strain completely lost antibacterial activity. Expression of the iucA, dfoJ, and foxA genes was significantly increased in the Δfur mutant background, and expression of these genes returned to wild-type levels after fur compensation. These results indicate that Fur negatively regulates aerobactin and DFO-E siderophores. However, siderophore production was not required for P. ananatis virulence in plants, but it appears to be involved in the microbial ecology surrounding the plant environment. This study is the first to report the regulation and functional characteristics of siderophore biosynthetic genes in P. ananatis. IMPORTANCE Pantoea ananatis is a bacterium that causes diseases in several economically important crops, as well as in insects and humans. This bacterium has been studied extensively as a potentially dangerous pathogen due to its saprophytic ability. Recently, the types, biosynthetic gene clusters, and origin of the siderophores in the Pantoea genus were determined by using genome comparative analyses. However, few genetic studies have investigated the characteristics and functions of siderophores in P. ananatis. The results of this study revealed that the production of aerobactin and desferrioxamine E in the rice pathogen P. ananatis PA13 is negatively regulated by Fur and that these siderophores are essential for antibacterial activity against Erwinia amylovora and Yersinia enterocolitica (Enterobacterales). However, siderophore production was not required for P. ananatis virulence in plants, but it appears to be involved in the microbial ecology surrounding the plant environment.
Keywords: Pantoea ananatis; aerobactin; antibacterial activity; desferrioxamine E; ferric uptake regulator protein.