This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Vereecke, D. Articles by Goethals, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Vereecke, D. Articles by Goethals, K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2002, p. 1112-1120, Vol. 184, No. 4
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/jb.184.4.1112-1120.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Chromosomal Locus That Affects Pathogenicity of Rhodococcus fascians

Vakgroep Moleculaire Genetica, Departement Plantengenetica, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium,¹ Laboratoire de Biotechnologie Végétale, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1160 Brussels, Belgium²

Received 15 June 2001/ Accepted 12 November 2001

The gram-positive plant pathogen Rhodococcus fascians provokes leafy gall formation on a wide range of plants through secretion of signal molecules that interfere with the hormone balance of the host. Crucial virulence genes are located on a linear plasmid, and their expression is tightly controlled. A mutant with a mutation in a chromosomal locus that affected virulence was isolated. The mutation was located in gene vicA, which encodes a malate synthase and is functional in the glyoxylate shunt of the Krebs cycle. VicA is required for efficient in planta growth in symptomatic, but not in normal, plant tissue, indicating that the metabolic requirement of the bacteria or the nutritional environment in plants or both change during the interaction. We propose that induced hyperplasia on plants represents specific niches for the causative organisms as a result of physiological alterations in the symptomatic tissue. Hence, such interaction could be referred to as metabolic habitat modification.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Depuydt, S., Dolezal, K., Van Lijsebettens, M., Moritz, T., Holsters, M., Vereecke, D. (2008). Modulation of the Hormone Setting by Rhodococcus fascians Results in Ectopic KNOX Activation in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. 146: 1267-1281 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ramirez-Trujillo, J. A., Encarnacion, S., Salazar, E., de los Santos, A. G., Dunn, M. F., Emerich, D. W., Calva, E., Hernandez-Lucas, I. (2007). Functional Characterization of the Sinorhizobium meliloti Acetate Metabolism Genes aceA, SMc00767, and glcB. J. Bacteriol. 189: 5875-5884 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ramirez, M. A., Lorenz, M. C. (2007). Mutations in Alternative Carbon Utilization Pathways in Candida albicans Attenuate Virulence and Confer Pleiotropic Phenotypes. Eukaryot Cell 6: 280-290 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Idnurm, A., Giles, S. S., Perfect, J. R., Heitman, J. (2007). Peroxisome Function Regulates Growth on Glucose in the Basidiomycete Fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. Eukaryot Cell 6: 60-72 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Piekarska, K., Mol, E., van den Berg, M., Hardy, G., van den Burg, J., van Roermund, C., MacCallum, D., Odds, F., Distel, B. (2006). Peroxisomal Fatty Acid {beta}-Oxidation Is Not Essential for Virulence of Candida albicans. Eukaryot Cell 5: 1847-1856 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tang, D.-J., He, Y.-Q., Feng, J.-X., He, B.-R., Jiang, B.-L., Lu, G.-T., Chen, B., Tang, J.-L. (2005). Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris Possesses a Single Gluconeogenic Pathway That Is Required for Virulence. J. Bacteriol. 187: 6231-6237 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Suksomtip, M., Liu, P., Anderson, T., Tungpradabkul, S., Wood, D. W., Nester, E. W. (2005). Citrate Synthase Mutants of Agrobacterium Are Attenuated in Virulence and Display Reduced vir Gene Induction. J. Bacteriol. 187: 4844-4852 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vandeputte, O., Oden, S., Mol, A., Vereecke, D., Goethals, K., El Jaziri, M., Prinsen, E. (2005). Biosynthesis of Auxin by the Gram-Positive Phytopathogen Rhodococcus fascians Is Controlled by Compounds Specific to Infected Plant Tissues. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 1169-1177 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lorenz, M. C., Bender, J. A., Fink, G. R. (2004). Transcriptional Response of Candida albicans upon Internalization by Macrophages. Eukaryot Cell 3: 1076-1087 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Anstrom, D. M., Kallio, K., Remington, S. J. (2003). Structure of the Escherichia coli malate synthase G:pyruvate:acetyl-coenzyme A abortive ternary complex at 1.95 A resolution. Protein Sci. 12: 1822-1832 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Smith, C. V., Huang, C.-c., Miczak, A., Russell, D. G., Sacchettini, J. C., Honer zu Bentrup, K. (2003). Biochemical and Structural Studies of Malate Synthase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 1735-1743 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lorenz, M. C., Fink, G. R. (2002). Life and Death in a Macrophage: Role of the Glyoxylate Cycle in Virulence. Eukaryot Cell 1: 657-662 [Full Text]  
• Idnurm, A., Howlett, B. J. (2002). Isocitrate Lyase Is Essential for Pathogenicity of the Fungus Leptosphaeria maculans to Canola (Brassica napus). Eukaryot Cell 1: 719-724 [Abstract] [Full Text]