title: Virulence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens requires phosphatidylcholine in the bacterial membrane.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Biologie der Mikroorganismen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Mirja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wessel
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klüsener
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gödeke
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fritz
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hacker
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Narberhaus
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D050918:Phosphatidylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase; D017855:Transferases (Other Substituted Phosphate Groups); C483298:CDP-diacylglycerol choline O-phosphatidyltransferase