title: Functional and genomic insights into the pathogenesis of Burkholderia species to rice.
abstract: A number of species of bacteria from the genus Burkholderia have been shown to be causal agents of diseases of rice. These diseases, caused by Burkholderia glumae, B. gladioli and B. plantarii, are becoming increasingly common across the globe. This is particularly so for B. glumae, whose ability to grow at elevated temperatures suggests that it may become a prevalent problem in an era of global warming. Despite the increasing threat to rice, relatively little is known about the virulence mechanisms employed by these pathogens. Work over the last 5 years has provided an increasing insight into these factors and their control by environmental and other cues. In addition, the determination of a number of genome sequences has allowed bioinformatic predictions of further possible mechanisms, which can now be investigated experimentally. Here, we review recent advances in the understanding of virulence of Burkholderia to rice, to include discussion of the roles of toxins, type II secreted enzymes, type III secreted effectors and motility as well as their regulation by quorum sensing, two-component systems and cyclic di-GMP signalling. Finally, we consider a number of approaches for the control of bacterial virulence through the modulation of quorum sensing and toxin degradation.
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiology, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Lynn M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Naughton
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: Shi-qi
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ingyu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: National Chung Hsing University Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 40227, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shan-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, The Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Microbial and Plant Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning, Guangxi, 530004, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, The Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Microbial and Plant Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning, Guangxi, 530004, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiology, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: J Maxwell
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dow
mesh_terms: D019117:Burkholderia / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D053038:Quorum Sensing; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics