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Flagellar motility of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3 contributes to bacterial infection through stomata

  • Bacterial and Phytoplasma Diseases
  • Published:
Journal of General Plant Pathology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Highly virulent Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3 (Psa3) causes kiwifruit bacterial canker, which seriously damages kiwifruits worldwide. We previously screened Psa3-transposon-inserted mutants and obtained reduced-virulence mutants with genes encoding the flagellar protein. Flagella are involved in the motility of bacteria and contribute to P. syringae invasion of plant leaves. However, whether flagella are required for the ability to enter stomata and then multiply in the plant apoplast is not known. Here, we sprayed kiwifruit leaves with Psa3-flagellar-defective mutants and found that their virulence was reduced compared to that of the Psa3 wild type, but their virulence was not reduced when the leaves were infiltrated with Psa3-flagellar-defective mutants using a syringe. Motility and bacterial entry into apoplastic space of the flagellar-defective mutants were also significantly reduced. These results indicate that flagella contribute to Psa3 motility and stomata-mediated entry, leading to disease development, but not multiplication in apoplast space after Psa3 entry. This study provides new insight into bacterial motility in host plants.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) ERATO NOMURA Microbial Community Control Project, grant number JPMJER1502 and JST SPRING, Grant Number JPMJSP2124. Psa biovar3 was the gift of NARO Genebank, Ibaraki, Japan. We thank Dr. Hidenori Matsui, Okayama University, Okayama Japan for the timely technical help in quantifying flagellin monomers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Giyu Usuki, Nanami Sakata & Yasuhiro Ishiga

  2. Tsukuba-Plant Innovation Research Center (T-PIRC), University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Takako Ishiga

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  1. Giyu Usuki
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  2. Takako Ishiga
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  3. Nanami Sakata
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  4. Yasuhiro Ishiga
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Contributions

G.U., T.I. and Y.I. designed the experiments; G.U., T.I., and N.S. performed the experiments; G.U., T.I., N.S. and Y.I. wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Takako Ishiga.

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Usuki, G., Ishiga, T., Sakata, N. et al. Flagellar motility of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae biovar 3 contributes to bacterial infection through stomata. J Gen Plant Pathol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10327-024-01172-6

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