Identifying type III effectors of plant pathogens and analyzing their interaction with plant cells.
Many bacterial pathogens cause disease by injecting virulence proteins (effectors) into host cells via the specialized type III secretion system. Recently, exceptional progress in identifying effectors was made in the phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae using a novel genetic screen and bioinformatic approach. These studies, along with localization experiments, suggest that most P. syringae effectors function by targeting the plasma membrane, chloroplasts or mitochondria of host cells. The type III secretome of P. syringae is highly variable and dynamic, a lesson gleaned from a comparative genomic analysis. Variation in the effector repertoire is likely to facilitate the adaptation of P. syringae to different hosts.
Greenberg
Jean T
JT
The University of Chicago, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, 1103 East 57th Street, Erman Biology Center, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. jgreenbe@midway.uchicago.edu
Vinatzer
Boris A
BA
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009876:Operon; D059828:Plant Cells; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
D000596:Amino Acids; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors