Virulence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens requires phosphatidylcholine in the bacterial membrane.
Phosphatidylcholine (PC, lecithin) has long been considered a solely eukaryotic membrane lipid. Only a minority of all bacteria is able to synthesize PC. The plant-transforming bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens encodes two potential PC forming enzymes, a phospholipid N-methyltransferase (PmtA) and a PC synthase (Pcs). We show that PC biosynthesis and tumour formation on Kalanchoë plants was impaired in the double mutant. The virulence defect was due to a complete lack of the type IV secretion machinery in the Agrobacterium PC mutant. Our results strongly suggest that PC in bacterial membranes is an important determinant for the establishment of host-microbe interactions.
Wessel
Mirja
M
Lehrstuhl für Biologie der Mikroorganismen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Klüsener
Sonja
S
Gödeke
Julia
J
Fritz
Christiane
C
Hacker
Stephanie
S
Narberhaus
Franz
F
D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D009154:Mutation; D009876:Operon; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000378:metabolism*; D050918:Phosphatidylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010941:Plant Tumors / Q000382:microbiology; D017855:Transferases (Other Substituted Phosphate Groups) / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D050918:Phosphatidylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase; D017855:Transferases (Other Substituted Phosphate Groups); C483298:CDP-diacylglycerol choline O-phosphatidyltransferase