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Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato hijacks the Arabidopsis abscisic acid signalling pathway to cause disease
Author(s) -
de TorresZabala Marta,
Truman William,
Bennett Mark H,
Lafforgue Guillaume,
Mansfield John W,
Rodriguez Egea Pedro,
Bögre Laszlo,
Grant Murray
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1038/sj.emboj.7601575
Subject(s) - pseudomonas syringae , abscisic acid , effector , biology , arabidopsis , plant hormone , microbiology and biotechnology , mutant , virulence , gene , biochemistry
We have found that a major target for effectors secreted by Pseudomonas syringae is the abscisic acid (ABA) signalling pathway. Microarray data identified a prominent group of effector‐induced genes that were associated with ABA biosynthesis and also responses to this plant hormone. Genes upregulated by effector delivery share a 42% overlap with ABA‐responsive genes and are also components of networks induced by osmotic stress and drought. Strongly induced were NCED3 , encoding a key enzyme of ABA biosynthesis, and the abscisic acid insensitive 1 ( ABI1 ) clade of genes encoding protein phosphatases type 2C ( PP2Cs ) involved in the regulation of ABA signalling. Modification of PP2C expression resulting in ABA insensitivity or hypersensitivity led to restriction or enhanced multiplication of bacteria, respectively. Levels of ABA increased rapidly during bacterial colonisation. Exogenous ABA application enhanced susceptibility, whereas colonisation was reduced in an ABA biosynthetic mutant. Expression of the bacterial effector AvrPtoB in planta modified host ABA signalling. Our data suggest that a major virulence strategy is effector‐mediated manipulation of plant hormone homeostasis, which leads to the suppression of defence responses.