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A transcriptional Regulator Gar Regulates the Growth and Virulence of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

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Abstract

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is the causal agent of bacterial blight, one of the most devastating diseases of rice. Pathogenic bacteria possess numerous transcriptional regulators to participate in the regulation of cellular processes. Here, we identified a transcriptional regulator Gar (PXO_RS11965) that is involved in regulating the growth and virulence of Xoo. Notably, the knockout of gar in Xoo enhanced bacterial virulence to the host rice. RNA-sequencing analysis and quantitative β-glucuronidase (GUS) assay indicated that Gar positively regulates the expression of a σ54 factor rpoN2. Further experiments confirmed that overexpression of rpoN2 restored the phenotypic changes caused by gar deletion. Our research revealed that Gar influences bacterial growth and virulence by positively regulating the expression of rpoN2.

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Acknowledgements

We especially thank Professor Gongyou Chen (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) for providing the pHG3 plasmid. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31970123) and the sixth batch of flexible talent introduction projects of Tibet Agriculture & Animal Husbandry University (NYRXRC-2022-03).

Funding

Funding (the National Natural Science Foundation of China 31970123, the sixth batch of flexible talent introduction projects of Tibet Agriculture & Animal Husbandry University NYRXRC-2022-03). National Natural Science Foundation of China, 31970123, Lifang Ruan, the sixth batch of flexible talent introduction projects of Tibet Agriculture & Animal Husbandry University, NYRXRC-2022-03, Lifang Ruan

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

    Huihui Wang, Fan Chen, Guiyu Tang, Wenli Ke, Shasha Wang, Dehong Zheng & Lifang Ruan

  2. College of Resources & Environment, Tibet Agriculture & Animal Husbandry University, Nyingchi, China

    Lifang Ruan

  3. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-environment and Agro-product Safety, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Dehong Zheng

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  1. Huihui Wang
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Contributions

HH contributed to the idea, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. HH, GY, WL, and SS performed the experiments. FC conducted the experiments in the revision. DH provided the experimental advice and was involved in manuscript editing. LF conceived the project, formulated the research plan, and supervised the study.

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Correspondence to Lifang Ruan.

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Fig. S1

Genetic validation of candidate target genes regulated by Gar. The initial OD600 of the bacterial cultures was 1.0. Aliquots (3 μL) of the diluted cultures were spotted onto NB plates and grown for 3 days. Supplementary file1 (TIFF 2569 kb)

Supplementary file2 (XLS 39 kb)

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Wang, H., Chen, F., Tang, G. et al. A transcriptional Regulator Gar Regulates the Growth and Virulence of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Curr Microbiol 80, 279 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-023-03396-9

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