Expression of a bean acid phosphatase cDNA is correlated with disease resistance.

A cDNA clone, designated Hra28 (for hypersensitive reaction associated), was identified corresponding to an RNA transcript that accumulates in bean during the hypersensitive reaction. The Hra28 cDNA is 1084 nucleotides in length and is predicted to encode an acid phosphatase of 264 amino acids. Northern analysis demonstrated that the Hra28 transcript accumulated differentially in response to bacteria which induce a hypersensitive response (HR), a bacterium which causes disease, and a Hrp(-) mutant which does not elicit an HR or cause disease. In contrast, the Hra28 transcript did not accumulate in response to wounding. Thus, the Hra28 gene is induced by multiple stimuli and appears to be regulated in a complex manner.

Cloning and characterization of a bean UDP-glucosyltransferase cDNA expressed during plant-bacterial interactions.

A cDNA clone, which corresponds to an RNA transcript that accumulates in bean during the hypersensitive reaction, was isolated and designated Hra25 (for hypersensitive reaction associated). Hra25 is predicted to encode a UDP-glucosyltransferase. Northern analysis was used to study Hra25 transcript accumulation in bean in response to incompatible and compatible strains of Pseudomonas syringae, an Hrp- mutant, and wounding. Our data suggest that the Hra25 transcript is activated in response to specific avr-derived signals as well as non-avr, general signals.

A bean cDNA expressed during a hypersensitive reaction encodes a putative calcium-binding protein.

The hypersensitive reaction (HR) is an inducible plant response that is associated with disease resistance. It is characterized by rapid, localized cell death at the site of infection and is believed to inhibit the spread of invading pathogens. We have isolated a cDNA clone, designated Hra32 (for hypersensitive reaction associated), corresponding to an RNA transcript that accumulates in bean during an HR. The predicted protein product of the Hra32 cDNA is an approximately 17 kDa protein of 161 amino acids, with four putative EF-hand calcium-binding domains. The temporal pattern of Hra32 transcript accumulation correlated closely with the onset of the HR in bean after inoculation with incompatible Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci and pv. tomato and with tobacco necrosis virus. Hra32 transcript also accumulated in bean in response to compatible P. syringae pv. phaseolicola and was correlated with necrotic cell death associated with disease lesion formation. A more transient pattern of Hra32 transcript accumulation occurred in bean in response to general stimuli that did not result in the HR or host cell death. These treatments included infiltration with a P. syringae pv. tabaci Hrp- mutant, P. syringae pv. tabaci cells treated with kanamycin, Escherichia coli, P. fluorescens, or glutathione, and in response to wounding. Thus, there was differential accumulation of the Hra32 transcript in response to specific stimuli resulting in the HR, compared with general stimuli that did not result in cell death. We hypothesize that the Hra32 product may be a component of the pathway that leads to hypersensitive cell death.

The role of hrp genes during plant-bacterial interactions.

hrp genes control the ability of phytopathogenic bacteria to cause disease and to elicit hypersensitive reactions on resistant plants. Genetic and biochemical studies have demonstrated that Hrp proteins are components of Type III secretion systems, regulatory proteins, proteinaceous elicitors of the hypersensitive reaction, and enzymes needed for synthesis of periplasmic glucans. Significantly, Type III secretion systems are involved with the secretion of pathogenicity proteins in bacterial pathogens of animals. The transcriptional activation of a number of bacterial avirulence (avr) genes is controlled by Hrp regulatory proteins, and recent experimental evidence suggests that Avr proteins may be transported by Hrp secretion systems. It has also been hypothesized that pathogenicity and/or virulence gene products exit bacterial phytopathogens via Hrp pathways. Thus, hrp genes may be one of the most important groups of genes found in phytopathogenic bacteria in relationship to pathogenicity and host range.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism evidence for genetic homology within a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola NPS3121 hrp sequences were used as hybridization probes in a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of 24 P. syringae pv. tabaci strains as a means to evaluate the genetic and taxonomic relationship of pathovars of P. syringae. Southern blot analyses of genomic restriction digests, with hrpA-S sequences as hybridization probes, and restriction analyses of PCR-amplified DNA of regions within hrpD were conducted. The resulting RFLP patterns were uniform for 23 of the 24 isolates tested, with strain BR2R having a unique pattern. BR2R is a pathogen of bean which was classified as pathovar tabaci because of its ability to produce tabtoxin, but unlike the other 23 tabaci strains in this study, it does not incite disease symptoms on tobacco. When a DNA fragment containing hrpM sequences was used as a hybridization probe, the tabaci isolates could be divided into three groups on the basis of the RFLP patterns : BR2R, Pt11528R and Pt113R, and the remaining strains. For all of the above analyses, BR2R shared identical RFLP patterns with P. syringae pv. phaseolicola NPS3121, also a bean pathogen which does not cause disease on tobacco. However, BR2R AND NPS3121 could be differentiated from each other on the basis of the RFLP patterns from restriction analysis of PCR-amplified DNA of argF, while the remaining tabaci strains had a third pattern. These studies indicate that hrp genes and argF are conserved in strains of P. syringae pathogenic to tobacco, suggesting that P. syringae strains pathogenic to specific hosts may have a high level of genetic similarity. We believe that these analyses have shown that distinct identifiable genetic differences may be correlated with host range and suggest that such information may be useful for assigning pathovar designations.

Generalized Induction of Defense Responses in Bean Is Not Correlated with the Induction of the Hypersensitive Reaction.

Transcripts for phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, chalcone synthase, chalcone isomerase, and chitinase accumulated in common bean after infiltration with the Pseudomonas syringae pv tabaci Hrp- mutant Pt11528::Hrp1, even though a hypersensitive reaction did not occur. The temporal pattern of this transcript accumulation was similar to that seen after infiltration with wild-type P. s. tabaci Pt11528, which resulted in a hypersensitive reaction. Escherichia coli DH5[alpha], P. fluorescens Pf101, heat-killed Pt11528 cells, and Pt11528 cells treated with protein synthesis inhibitors also induced accumulation of defense transcripts but not a hypersensitive reaction. In contrast, these transcripts were not detected in plants infiltrated with water or P.s. pv phaseolicola NPS3121, a compatible pathogen that causes halo blight. Phytoalexins were produced in bean after infiltration with Pt11528, Pt11528::Hrp1, Pt11528 cells treated with neomycin, or Pf101, but not in plants infiltrated with NPS3121 or water. These results suggest that there are unique biochemical events associated with the expression of a hypersensitive reaction which are distinct from other plant defense responses such as phytoalexin biosynthesis. In addition, our results support the hypothesis that there is a general, nonspecific mechanism for the induction of defense transcripts and phytoalexins by pathogenic and saprophytic bacteria that is distinct from the more specific mechanism associated with the induction of the hypersensitive reaction.

Suppression of Bean Defense Responses by Pseudomonas syringae.

We have developed a model system to examine suppression of defense responses in bean by the compatible bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola. Previously, we have shown that there is a general mechanism for the induction of the bean defense genes phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), chalcone isomerase (CHI), and chitinase (CHT) by incompatible, compatible, and nonpathogenic bacteria. Here, we show that bean plants infiltrated with isolates of P. s. phaseolicola failed to produce transcripts for PAL, CHS, or CHI up to 120 hr after infiltration and CHT transcript accumulation was significantly delayed when compared to the incompatible P. syringae strains. Infiltration of bean plants with 108 cells per mL of P. s. phaseolicola NPS3121 8 hr prior to infiltration with an equal concentration of incompatible P. s. pv tabaci Pt11528 significantly reduced the typical profile of defense transcript accumulation when compared to plants infiltrated with Pt11528 alone. A corresponding suppression of phytoalexin accumulation was also observed. NPS3121 also suppressed PAL, CHS, CHI, and CHT transcript accumulation and phytoalexin production induced by Escherichia coli DH5[alpha] or the elicitor glutathione. Heat-killed NPS3121 cells or cells treated with protein synthesis inhibitors lost the suppressor activity. Taken together, these experiments suggest that NPS3121 has an active mechanism to suppress the accumulation of defense transcripts and phytoalexin biosynthesis in bean.

Molecular analysis of plant defense responses to plant pathogens.

A number of inducible plant responses are believed to contribute to disease resistance. These responses include the hypersensitive reaction, phytoalexin synthesis, and the production of chitinase, glucanase, and hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins. Because of the coordinate induction of these responses, it has been difficult to determine whether they are functional defense responses, and if they are, how they specifically contribute to disease resistance. Recent developments in molecular biology have provided experimental techniques that will reveal the specific contribution of each response to disease resistance. In this paper, we describe a strategy to determine if the hypersensitive reaction is a functional plant defense mechanism.

An ice nucleation reporter gene system: identification of inducible pathogenicity genes in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola.

We have constructed derivatives of the transposon Tn3 that allow an ice nucleation gene (inaZ) to be used as 'reporter' of the transcriptional activity of genes into which it is inserted. In these derivatives (Tn3-Ice and Tn3-Spice), the lacZYA sequences of transposon Tn3-HoHo1 were replaced with inaZ lacking its native promoter. The ice nucleation activity of virB::inaZ fusions in the correct transcriptional orientation was inducible by acetosyringone, a plant metabolite which activates the vir operon of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmids, while fusions in the opposite orientation were unresponsive to the inducer. Tn3-Spice was also used to investigate the expression of a cluster of genes (hrp) which control pathogenicity and hypersensitivity elicited by Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. An inducible region was identified which is expressed at low levels in vitro but becomes activated when the bacteria come into contact with the susceptible host, bean. Activation of this region occurred within 2 h post-inoculation and was nearly complete by the time the bacteria began to multiply in the leaf tissue. The inaZ reporter appears to be at least 10(5)-fold more sensitive than lacZ in P.s.phaseolicola. Thus, the inaZ fusion system provides a sensitive, convenient and inexpensive tool for the study of bacterial gene expression, particularly during plant pathogenesis, and should be generally useful as a reporter gene system in Gram-negative bacteria.

Gene cluster of Pseudomonas syringae pv. "phaseolicola" controls pathogenicity of bean plants and hypersensitivity of nonhost plants.

Loss of the ability of Pseudomonas syringae pv. "phaseolicola" NPS3121 to elicit a hypersensitive response on tobacco and other nonhost plants was associated with loss of pathogenicity on the susceptible host bean. Eight independent, prototrophic transposon Tn5 insertion mutants which had lost the ability to elicit a hypersensitive response on tobacco plants were identified. Six of these mutants no longer produced disease lesions on primary leaves of the susceptible bean cultivar Red Kidney and failed to elicit a hypersensitive response on the resistant bean cultivar Red Mexican and on the nonhost plants tomato, cowpea, and soybean. The two remaining mutants had reduced pathogenicity on Red Kidney bean and elicited variable hypersensitive responses on the other plants tested. Southern blot analysis indicated that each mutant carried a single independent Tn5 insertion in one of three EcoRI fragments of about 17, 7, and 5 kilobases. Marker exchange mutagenesis further supported the conclusion that the pleiotropic mutant phenotype was not associated with multiple Tn5 insertions. A genomic library of the wild-type strain was constructed in the cosmid vector pLAFR3. A recombinant plasmid, designated pPL6, that carried P. syringae pv. "phaseolicola" genomic sequences was identified by colony hybridization. This plasmid restored the wild-type phenotype to all but one mutant, suggesting that genes affected by the insertions were clustered. Structural analysis of pPL6 and the wild-type genome indicated that the 17- and 5-kilobase EcoRI fragments were contiguous in the strain NPS3121 genome.

Identification and cloning of genes involved in phaseolotoxin production by Pseudomonas syringae pv. "phaseolicola".

Genes involved in the production of phaseolotoxin by Pseudomonas syringae pv. "phaseolicola" NPS3121 were identified by Tn5 mutagenesis and cosmid cloning. A total of 5,180 kanamycin-resistant colonies were screened for the loss of phaseolotoxin production by a microbiological assay. Six independent, prototrophic, Tox- mutants were isolated that had Tn5 insertions in five different EcoRI fragments. All six mutants had Tn5 inserted in the same KpnI fragment, which had a length of ca. 28 kilobases including Tn5. The mutants produced residual toxin in vitro. An EcoRI fragment containing Tn5 and flanking sequences from mutant NPS4336 was cloned and used to probe a wild-type genomic library by colony hybridization. Seven recombinant plasmids showing homology to this probe were identified. Each Tox- mutant was restored in OCTase-specific toxin production by two or more of the recombinant plasmids. The data suggest that at least some of the genes involved in phaseolotoxin production were clustered in a large KpnI fragment. No homology was detected between the Tn5 target fragment cloned from mutant NPS4336 and the total genomic DNA from closely or distantly related bacteria that do not produce phaseolotoxin.