title: Avirulence gene D of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato may have undergone horizontal gene transfer.
abstract: Avirulence gene D (avrD) is carried on the B-plasmid of the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato with plasmid-borne avrD homologs widely distributed among the Pseudomonads. We now report sequences in the soft rot pathogen Erwinia carotovora that cross-hybridize to avrD suggesting a conserved function beyond avirulence. Alternatively, avrD may have been transferred horizontally among species: (i) DNA linked to avrD shows evidence of class II transpositions and contains a novel IS3-related insertion sequence, and (ii) short sequences linked to avrD are similar to pathogenicity genes from a variety of unrelated pathogens. We have also identified the gene cluster that controls B-plasmid stability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie 82071-3944, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanekamp
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Stayton
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D018628:Gene Dosage; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016973:Pectobacterium carotovorum / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; C087017:AvrD protein, Pseudomonas syringae