Affiliation:
1. Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Hfq is a global small RNA (sRNA) chaperone that interacts with Hfq-regulated sRNAs and functions in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. In this work, we identified Hfq to be a virulence regulator in the Gram-negative fire blight pathogen
Erwinia amylovora
. Deletion of
hfq
in
E. amylovora
Ea1189 significantly reduced bacterial virulence in both immature pear fruits and apple shoots. Analysis of virulence determinants in strain Ea1189Δ
hfq
showed that Hfq exerts pleiotropic regulation of amylovoran exopolysaccharide production, biofilm formation, motility, and the type III secretion system (T3SS). Further characterization of biofilm regulation by Hfq demonstrated that Hfq limits bacterial attachment to solid surfaces while promoting biofilm maturation. Characterization of T3SS regulation by Hfq revealed that Hfq positively regulates the translocation and secretion of the major type III effector DspE and negatively controls the secretion of the putative translocator HrpK and the type III effector Eop1. Lastly, 10 Hfq-regulated sRNAs were identified using a computational method, and two of these sRNAs, RprA and RyhA, were found to be required for the full virulence of
E. amylovora
.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Molecular Biology,Microbiology
Cited by
68 articles.
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