Asita Mukherjee

Characterization of a novel RNA regulator of Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora that controls production of extracellular enzymes and secondary metabolites

The enterobacterium Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora strain 71 (hereafter Ecc71) produces extracellular enzymes such as pectate lyase isozymes (Pels), cellulase (Cel), polygalacturonase (Peh) and protease (Prt). These enzymes degrade plant cell wall components and are largely responsible for the elicitation of soft‐rot diseases in plants and plant products. Ecc71 also produces HarpinEcc, the elicitor of hypersensitive reaction (HR) and the quorum‐sensing signal, N‐(3‐oxohexanoyl)‐L‐homoserine lactone (OHL). OHL controls extracellular enzyme and HarpinEcc production. The levels of these enzymes, as well as the expression of hrpNEcc, the structural gene for HarpinEcc, and ohlI, the gene specifying OHL synthesis, are negatively regulated by RsmA. rsmB, formerly aepH, on the other hand, positively regulates extracellular enzyme production. 6His–RsmA recombinant protein purified from E. coli binds rsmB RNA as indicated by gel mobility shift assays. rsmB comprises 547 bp DNA, which is transcribed from a single start site immediately after a σ70‐like promoter. In Ecc71, two rsmB RNA species are detected: a full‐length 479 base rsmB RNA and a 259 base rsmB′ RNA. rsmB′ DNA hybridizes with the 259 base and the 479 base transcripts. A 3′ RNase protection assay revealed that the 259 base and the 479 base RNA species end at the same position immediately after the putative rho‐independent terminator. The expression of rsmB–lacZ transcriptional fusions established that the rsmB′ RNA is not produced because of the activation of an internal promoter. These data strongly suggest that the 259 base rsmB′ RNA is derived by processing of the primary rsmB RNA. In Ecc71, rsmB′ expression driven by the lac promoter causes overproduction of Pel, Peh, Cel and Prt, and accumulation of pel‐1, peh‐1, hrpNEcc and ohlI transcripts. By contrast, a plasmid with the rsmB′ DNA sequence deleted fails to cause overproduction of the extracellular enzymes in Ecc71. The rsmB′ effect also occurs in Escherichia coli as glycogen accumulation is stimulated in the presence of rsmB′. In vivo and in vitro translation as well as mutational analysis of rsmB′ have established that rsmB′ RNA does not yield a translational product. Therefore, we concluded that the rsmB′ RNA itself functions as the regulator. Indeed, the expression of rsmB′ DNA leads to neutralization of the negative effects of the RNA‐binding protein, RsmA, in Ecc71 and Serratia marcescens strain SM274. We propose a model that explains how RsmA and rsmB control the expression of genes for extracellular enzymes.

Global regulation in Erwinia species by Erwinia carotovora rsmA, a homologue of Escherichia coli csrA : repression of secondary metabolites, pathogenicity and hypersensitive reaction

Our previous studies revealed that rsmA of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora strain 71 suppressed the synthesis of the cell density (quorum) sensing signal N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, the production of extracellular enzymes and tissue macerating ability in soft-rotting Erwinia species and that homologues of this negative regulator gene were present in other Erwinia species. Northern blot data presented here demonstrate that rsmA and rsmA-like genes are also expressed in soft-rotting and non-soft-rotting Erwinia spp. such as E. amylovora, E. carotovora subsp. atroseptica, E. carotovora subsp. betavasculorum, E. carotovora subsp. carotovora, E. chrysanthemi, E. herbicola and E. stewartii. A low-copy plasmid carrying rsmA of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain 71 caused suppression of antibiotic production in E. carotovora subsp. betavasculorum, flagellum formation in E. carotovora subsp. carotovora, carotenoid production in E. herbicola and E. stewartii, and indigoidine production in E. chrysanthemi. In E. amylovora, rsmA of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora suppressed the elicitation of the hypersensitive reaction in tobacco leaves and the production of disease symptoms in apple shoots, in addition to repressing motility and extracellular polysaccharide production. We conclude that rsmA homologues function as global regulators of secondary metabolic pathways as well as factors controlling host interaction of Erwinia species.

Molecular characterization and expression of the Erwinia carotovora hrpNEcc gene, which encodes an elicitor of the hypersensitive reaction.

The nucleotide sequence of hrpNEcc DNA, cloned from Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Ecc71, reveals a coding region of 1,068 bp which matches the size of hrpNEcc transcripts. hrpNEcc is predicted to encode a glycine-rich protein of approximately 36 kDa. Like the elicitors of the hypersensitive reaction (HR) produced by E. chrysanthemi (HarpinEch) and E. amylovora (HarpinEa), the deduced 36-kDa protein does not possess a typical signal sequence, but it contains a putative membrane-spanning domain. In Escherichia coli strains overexpressing hrpNEcc, the 36-kDa protein has been identified as the hrpNEcc product by Western blot analysis using anti-HarpinEch antibodies. The 36-kDa protein fractionated from E. coli elicits the HR in tobacco leaves. Moreover, a HrpN- and RsmA- double mutant (RsmA = regulator of secondary metabolites) does not produce this 36-kDa protein or elicit the HR, although this strain, like the RsmA- and HrpN+ bacteria, overproduces extracellular enzymes and macerates celery petioles. These observations demonstrate that hrpNEcc encodes the elicitor of the HR, designated HarpinEcc. The levels of hrpNEcc transcripts are affected in both RsmA+ and RsmA- strains by media composition and carbon sources, although the mRNA levels are substantially higher in the RsmA- strains. The expression of hrpNEcc in Ecc71 is cell density dependent and is activated by the quorum-sensing signal, N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (OHL). By contrast, hrpNEcc expression in an RsmA- strain is independent of cell density, and substantial expression occurs in the absence of OHL. The effects of cultural conditions and the occurrence of putative cis-acting sequences, such as consensus sigma 54 promoters and an hrp promoter upstream of the transcriptional start site, indicate that the production of HarpinEcc in wild-type RsmA+ E. carotovora subsp. carotovora is tightly regulated. These observations, taken along with the finding that the HR is caused by RsmA- mutants but not by RsmA+ strains (Cui et al., 1996, Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 9:565-573), strongly support the idea that the inability of the wild-type pectolytic E. carotovora subsp. carotovora to elicit the HR is due to the lack of a significant level of HarpinEcc production.

The RsmA- mutants of Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Ecc71 overexpress hrpNEcc and elicit a hypersensitive reaction-like response in tobacco leaves.

Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora wild-type strain Ecc71 does not elicit the hypersensitive reaction (HR) in tobacco leaves. By mini-Tn5-Km and chemical mutagenesis we have isolated RsmA- mutants of Ecc71 that produce high basal levels of pectate lyases, polygalacturonase, cellulase, and protease; they also are hypervirulent. The RsmA- mutants, but not their parent strains, elicit an HR-like response in tobacco leaves. This reaction is characterized by the rapid appearance of water soaking followed by tissue collapse and necrosis. The affected areas remain limited to the region infiltrated with bacterial cells, and the symptoms closely resemble a typical HR, e.g., the reactions caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. Moreover, low concentrations of cells of the mini-Tn5-Km insertion RsmA- mutant, AC5070, infiltrated into tobacco leaf tissue prevent elicitation of the rapid necrosis by AC5070 or by P. syringae pv. pisi. Elicitation of the HR-like response by the mutants is not affected by the deficiency of N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, the cell density (quorum) sensing signal. Cloning and sequence analysis have disclosed that E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strain Ecc71 possesses a homolog of E. chrysanthemi hrpN known to encode an elicitor of the HR; the corresponding Ecc71 gene is designated hrpNEcc. Northern (RNA) blot data show that the level of hrpNEcc mRNA is considerably higher in the RsmA- mutants than in the RsmA+ strains. Moreover, a low copy plasmid carrying the rsmA+ allele severely reduces the level of the hrpNEcc transcripts in the RsmA- mutants. These constructs, like the RsmA+ E. carotovora subsp. carotovora strains, do not elicit the HR-like response. These data taken along with the effects of rsmA on exoenzyme production and pathogenicity (A. Chatterjee et al., 1995, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:1959-1967) demonstrate that this global regulator gene plays a critical role in plant interaction of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora.

Genetic and physiological evidence for the production of N-acyl homoserine lactones by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and other fluorescent plant pathogenic Pseudomonas species

AbstractN-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) function as cell density (quorum) sensing signals and regulate diverse metabolic processes in several gram negative bacteria. We report that strains of Pseudomonas syringae pvs. syringae (Pss), tabaci and tomato as well as P. corrugata and P. savastanoi produce difussible AHLs that activate the lux operons of Vibrio fischeri or the tra::lacZ fusion of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In Pss strain B3A, AHL production occurs in cell density dependent manner. Nucleotide sequence and genetic complementation data revealed the presence of ahlIPss, a luxI homolog within the Ahl+ DNA of Pss strain B3A. The

Activation of the Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora pectin lyase structural gene pnlA : a role for RdgB

ahlI_{Pss}^ +

hexA of Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora strain Ecc71 negatively regulates production of RpoS and rsmB RNA, a global regulator of extracellular proteins, plant virulence and the quorum-sensing signal, N-(3-oxohexanoyl)- l-homoserine lactone

DNA expresses in AHL-deficient strains of P. fluorescens and E. carotovora subsp. carotovora (Ecc), and restores extracellular enzyme production and pathogenicity in the Ecc strain. The derivatives of Pss strains B3A and 301D carrying chromosomal ahlI::lacZ do not produce AHL, but like their wild type parents, produce extracellular protease and the phytotoxin syringomycin as well as elicit the hypersensitive reaction in tobacco leaves. While these strains also produce a basal level of β-galactosidase activity, the expression of ahlI::lacZ is substantially stimulated in the presence of multiple copies of the