Cell-cell signaling controls Xylella fastidiosa interactions with both insects and plants

Xylella fastidiosa, which causes Pierce's disease of grapevine and other important plant diseases, is a xylem-limited bacterium that depends on insect vectors for transmission. Although many studies have addressed disease symptom development and transmission of the pathogen by vectors, little i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2004-02, Vol.101 (6), p.1737-1742
Main Authors: Newman, K.L, Almeida, R.P.P, Purcell, A.H, Lindow, S.E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Bacteria
Base Sequence
Biofilms
Biological Sciences
Disease transmission
DNA Primers
Insect colonies
Insect vectors
Insecta - microbiology
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Molecular Sequence Data
Pharynx - ultrastructure
Phytopathology
Plant diseases
Plants - microbiology
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Signal Transduction
Symptoms
Transmission efficiency
Xylella - physiology
Xylem
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Summary:Xylella fastidiosa, which causes Pierce's disease of grapevine and other important plant diseases, is a xylem-limited bacterium that depends on insect vectors for transmission. Although many studies have addressed disease symptom development and transmission of the pathogen by vectors, little is known about the bacterial mechanisms driving these processes. Recently available X. fastidiosa genomic sequences and molecular tools have provided new routes for investigation. Here, we show that a diffusible signal molecule is required for biofilm formation in the vector and for vector transmission to plants. We constructed strains of X. fastidiosa mutated in the rpfF gene and determined that they are unable to produce the signal activity. In addition, rpfF mutants are more virulent than the wild type when mechanically inoculated into plants. This signal therefore directs interaction of X. fastidiosa with both its insect vector and plant host. Interestingly, rpfF mutants can still form in planta biofilms, which differ architecturally from biofilms in insects, suggesting that biofilm architecture, rather than a passive response to the environment, is actively determined by X. fastidiosa gene expression. This article reports a cell-cell signaling requirement for vector transmission. Identification of the genes regulated by rpfF should elucidate bacterial factors involved in transmission and biofilm formation in the insect.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0308399100