Open AccessLdtR is a master regulator of gene expression in L iberibacter asiaticus
Author(s) -
Pagliai Fernando A.,
Coyle Janelle F.,
Kapoor Sharan,
Gonzalez Claudio F.,
Lorca Graciela L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.12728
Subject(s) - biology , regulon , gene , transcriptome , in silico , obligate , genetics , genome , regulator , biogenesis , transcription (linguistics) , gene expression , computational biology , botany , linguistics , philosophy
Summary Huanglongbing or citrus greening disease is causing devastation to the citrus industry. Liberibacter asiaticus , an obligate intracellular pathogen of citrus, is one the causative agents of the disease. Most of the knowledge about this bacterium has been deduced from the in silico exploration of its genomic sequence. L. asiaticus differentially expresses genes during its transmission from the psyllid vector, Diaphorina citri , to the plant. However, the regulatory mechanisms for the adaptation of the bacterium into either hosts remain unknown. Here we show that LdtR, a MarR family transcriptional regulator, activates or represses transcription genome‐wide. We performed a double approach to identify the components of the LdtR regulon: a transcriptome analysis in both the related bacterium Liberibacter crescens and citrus‐infected leaves, strengthened with an in silico prediction of LdtR regulatory sites. Our results demonstrated that LdtR controls the expression of nearly 180 genes in L. asiaticus , distributed in processes such as cell motility, cell wall biogenesis, energy production, and transcription. These results provide new evidence about the regulatory network of L. asiaticus , where the differential expression of genes from these functional categories could be of great importance during the adaptation of the bacterium to either hosts.