IBR   13079
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR Y CELULAR DE ROSARIO
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Biofilm formation during citrus canker requires the Xanthomonas outer membrane protein OprB.
Autor/es:
GRANDELLIS C; FICARRA FA; GOTTIG N; OTTADO J
Reunión:
Congreso; LI Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular.; 2015
Resumen:
Citrus canker restricts citrus fruit export, and Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) is the causal agent of this worldwide distributed disease. Previously, we detected that the expression of the outer membrane porin OprB is increased during bacterial Xcc biofilm formation, OprB belongs to the family of carbohydrates transport proteins. To further study its role during disease establishment, we constructed a Xcc deletion mutant (XccΔoprB) and confirmed that this protein is required for the formation of biofilm structures, as well as for bacterial adherence to the plant cells, and also virulence. Furthermore, disease assays with both wild type and mutant pathogenic strains revealed a decrease of canker lesions by 50% when lacking OprB. Given the known function of OprB in other bacteria, glucose uptake was measured and we demonstrated that OprB is necessary for glucose uptake to the cell. Moreover, metabolite abundance between the two strains was compared and differences of carbon intermediate metabolites were detected revealing that Xcc undergoes a reprogramming of the carbon metabolism when it senses a shortage of glucose input. Overall, our results point to the participation of OprB in the process of biofilm formation and virulence with a main role in bacterial metabolic changes, highlighting that environmental nutrient availability may define pathogen virulence.