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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #393311
Research Project: Advancing Knowledge of the Biology and Etiology of Bacterial Plant Pathogens Towards Management Strategies

Location: Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research

Title: Uncovering genes in Dickeya spp. that contribute to growth in potato stems

Author
item GONZALEZ-TOBON, JULIANA - Cornell University
item Helmann, Tyler
item Stodghill, Paul
item Filiatrault, Melanie

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2022
Publication Date: 8/6/2023
Citation: Gonzalez-Tobon, J., Helmann, T.C., Stodghill, P., Filiatrault, M.J. 2023. Uncovering genes in Dickeya spp. that contribute to growth in potato stems. American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting. American Phytopatholigical Society Annual Meeting.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Bacteria belonging to the Dickeya genus are necrotrophic plant pathogens that cause blackleg and soft rot symptoms on many plant hosts, including potato. During infection, the pathogen faces a variety of environmental conditions, both macro (growth in the tuber is different from that in the stem) and micro (pH differences, redox conditions, antimicrobial peptides, among others). To be successful under such heterogeneous environments, Dickeya might rely on different cellular and molecular processes to adapt and survive. We used randomly bar-coded transposon mutant (RB-TnSeq) libraries of Dickeya dianthicola and Dickeya dadantii to identify the genes required for fitness in potato stems. To complement the study, we compared the results with previous RB-TnSeq data sets generated from multiple in vitro growth conditions and growth in potato tubers. We identified 43 and 95 genes whose predicted functions were specifically required for D. dadantii and D. dianthicola´s fitness, respectively, in potato stems. We discovered that growth of Dickeya in the stem heavily depends on chemotaxis and motility genes. Additionally, genes not previously shown to impact growth in planta such as iron sequestration, transport, virulence and transcription factors, were identified. We also detected species specific differences. This data provides important insights into the mechanisms used by Dickeya when interacting with and colonizing plants, and thus might provide targets for management.