title: Five phylogenetically close rice SWEET genes confer TAL effector-mediated susceptibility to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.
abstract: Bacterial plant-pathogenic Xanthomonas strains translocate transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors into plant cells to function as specific transcription factors. Only a few plant target genes of TAL effectors have been identified, so far. Three plant SWEET genes encoding putative sugar transporters are known to be induced by TAL effectors from rice-pathogenic Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). We predict and validate that expression of OsSWEET14 is induced by a novel TAL effector, Tal5, from an African Xoo strain. Artificial TAL effectors (ArtTALs) were constructed to individually target 20 SWEET orthologs in rice. They were used as designer virulence factors to study which rice SWEET genes can support Xoo virulence. The Tal5 target box differs from those of the already known TAL effectors TalC, AvrXa7 and PthXo3, which also induce expression of OsSWEET14, suggesting evolutionary convergence on key targets. ArtTALs efficiently complemented an Xoo talC mutant, demonstrating that specific induction of OsSWEET14 is the key target of TalC. ArtTALs that specifically target individual members of the rice SWEET family revealed three known and two novel SWEET genes to support bacterial virulence. Our results demonstrate that five phylogenetically close SWEET proteins, which presumably act as sucrose transporters, can support Xoo virulence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 10, D-06120, Halle (Saale), Germany.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Streubel
authors.affiliation: UMR 186 IRD-UM2-Cirad 'Résistance des Plantes aux Bioagresseurs', BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.|Earth and Life Institute, Applied Microbiology Phytopathology, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pesce
authors.affiliation: UMR 186 IRD-UM2-Cirad 'Résistance des Plantes aux Bioagresseurs', BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hutin
authors.affiliation: UMR 186 IRD-UM2-Cirad 'Résistance des Plantes aux Bioagresseurs', BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koebnik
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 10, D-06120, Halle (Saale), Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boch
authors.affiliation: UMR 186 IRD-UM2-Cirad 'Résistance des Plantes aux Bioagresseurs', BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Szurek
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001692:Biological Transport; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D009154:Mutation; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013395:Sucrose / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D014974:Xanthomonas / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D037521:Virulence Factors; D013395:Sucrose
keywords: OsSWEET; TALE; designer TALE; plant pathogen; plant resistance; rice; type-III effector; virulence