Objective
Three classes of gene which are important in determining pathogenicity and host specificity of bacteria for plants are being studied. Molecular profiles of diseases caused by related Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas species will be constructed within which possibilities for novel crop protection strategies and improved diagnostic procedures can be devised.
The work has shown that a diverse group of plant pathogens use very similar mechanisms for causing disease. If it can be determined how to interfere with the pathogenicity process, this is likely to have general applicability. The use of avirulent mutants for biological control is a promising strategy for limiting disease and will in addition give information about plant disease resistance mechanisms.
Projects developments include:
hrp gene products of P solanacearum, P syringae and X campestris are related to pathogenicity proteins of the human pathogen Yersinia, suggesting that certain aspects of plant and animal disease involve analogous mechanisms;
Repeat structures in some avr genes are important in determining specificity. Some avirulence genes are able to give both race cultivar specificty and pathovarnonhost specificity, suggesting that a basic fundamental mechanism underlies host pathogen specificty;
A suppressor of avr gene action may have been discovered;
Production of pathogenicity factors is under control by a series of overlapping systems;
Pretreatment of plants with avirulent hrp mutants of P solanacearum protects against subsequent infection by virulent strains.
Three classes of gene essential for pathogenicity of the bacteria Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas to plants are being studied. Avr genes determine the inability to cause disease in plant hosts carrying certain resistance genes, rpf genes control coordinately production of pathogenicity determinants, probably in response to factors in the plant, and hrp genes are needed both for pathogenicity and for ability to incite plant resistance responses.
Aspects of genomic organization, sequence, function, and expression of the genes are being investigated, particularly the interdependence of expression of the several classes, together with the control of hrp and rpf expression and function by substances from the plant environment. X-ray crystal structure of a regulatory Hrp protein is being determined. Pre-inoculation with certain hrp mutants (which are non-virulent) can protect plants against subsequent infection by virulent strains, and the potential of this for biological disease control in a situation where little useful genetic resistance is available is being studied.
The collaborative project is based on the already demonstrated similarities of some pathogenicity mechanisms and genes in bacteria causing diseases of different classes, including some of the economically most serious crop diseases. Comparative studies will demonstrate the extent of functional equivalence and perhaps verify the concept that a consensus set of related essential pathogenicity genes is found in many pathogens irrespective of their host plant and infection strategy. This information is essential for the development of advanced disease control strategies based upon interference with the normal development of the host-pathogen complex.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering crystals
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
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Coordinator
NR4 7UH NORWICH
United Kingdom
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