Investigation of the Role of a Zinc Uptake Regulator (Zur) in the Virulence of Pectobacterium odoriferum
-
Published:2023-06-10
Issue:12
Volume:24
Page:9991
-
ISSN:1422-0067
-
Container-title:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:IJMS
Author:
Chen Changlong1,
Cui Shuang1,
Guan Jiantao12,
Su Yanyan1,
Liang Xucong1,
Tian Yu1,
Xie Hua1
Affiliation:
1. Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China
2. Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Abstract
Pectobacterium spp. infect many horticultural crops worldwide and lead to serious crop losses. Zinc-uptake-regulator (Zur) proteins are present widely in prokaryotes and play an important role in pathogenicity. To uncover the role of Zur in P. odoriferum, we constructed mutant (ΔZur) and overexpression [Po (Zur)] strains of a Zur, and a virulence assay showed that the Po (Zur) was of significantly lower virulence, while the ΔZur displayed significantly increased virulence on Chinese cabbage compared to their respective control strains, wild-type P. odoriferum (Po WT) and P. odoriferum harboring an empty vector (Po (EV)) (p < 0.05). The growth curves of the ΔZur and Po (Zur) showed no obvious differences from those of the control strains. Comparative transcriptome analysis showed that Zur overexpression in P. odoriferum induced differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to flagellum and cell motility, while mutating Zur resulted in DEGs mainly corresponding to divalent-metal-ion transport and membrane transport. Phenotypic experiments on the Po (Zur) showed that flagellum numbers and cell motility were reduced in comparison with the control, while those of the ΔZur did not change. Collectively, these results show that the Zur negatively regulates the virulence of P. odoriferum and might function via a dual mechanism dependent on dose.
Funder
The National Key Research and Development Projects
the Youth Scientific Fund of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences
Subject
Inorganic Chemistry,Organic Chemistry,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Computer Science Applications,Spectroscopy,Molecular Biology,General Medicine,Catalysis
Reference53 articles.
1. Nutritional immunity: The battle for nutrient metals at the host–pathogen interface;Murdoch;Nat. Rev. Microbiol.,2022
2. Metal homeostasis and resistance in bacteria;Chandrangsu;Nat. Rev. Microbiol.,2017
3. Zinc resistance mechanisms in bacteria;Choudhury;Curr. Sci.,2001
4. Metal preferences and metallation;Foster;J. Biol. Chem.,2014
5. Ducret, V., Gonzalez, D., and Perron, K. (Biometals, 2022). Zinc homeostasis in Pseudomonas, Biometals, Epub ahead of print.