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Virulence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens requires phosphatidylcholine in the bacterial membrane
Author(s) -
Wessel Mirja,
Klüsener Sonja,
Gödeke Julia,
Fritz Christiane,
Hacker Stephanie,
Narberhaus Franz
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2006.05425.x
Subject(s) - agrobacterium tumefaciens , biology , mutant , agrobacterium , virulence , phosphatidylcholine , secretion , bacteria , type three secretion system , phospholipid , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biosynthesis , rhizobiaceae , enzyme , gene , transformation (genetics) , membrane , genetics , symbiosis
Summary 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.