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The Pseudomonas syringae type III effector AvrRpt2 promotes virulence independently of RIN4, a predicted virulence target in Arabidopsis thaliana
Author(s) -
Lim Melisa T.S.,
Kunkel Barbara N.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-313x.2004.02251.x
Subject(s) - pseudomonas syringae , virulence , arabidopsis thaliana , biology , effector , hypersensitive response , pathogen , genetics , mutant , microbiology and biotechnology , plant disease resistance , gene
Summary AvrRpt2, an effector protein from Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato ( Pst ), behaves as an avirulence factor that activates resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana lines expressing the resistance gene RPS2. AvrRpt2 can also enhance pathogen fitness by promoting the ability of the bacteria to grow and to cause disease on susceptible lines of A. thaliana that lack functional RPS2 . The activation of RPS2 is coupled to the AvrRpt2‐induced disappearance of the A. thaliana RIN4 protein. However, the significance of this RIN4 elimination to AvrRpt2 virulence function is unresolved. To clarify our understanding of the contribution of RIN4 disappearance to AvrRpt2 virulence function, we generated new avrRpt2 alleles by random mutagenesis. We show that the ability of six novel AvrRpt2 mutants to induce RIN4 disappearance correlated well with their avirulence activities but not with their virulence activities. Moreover, the virulence activity of wild‐type AvrRpt2 was detectable in an A. thaliana line lacking RIN4. Collectively, these results indicate that the virulence activity of AvrRpt2 in A. thaliana is likely to rely on the modification of host susceptibility factors other than, or in addition to, RIN4.