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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2003, p. 5772-5778, Vol. 185, No. 19
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.19.5772-5778.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Erwinia chrysanthemi tolC Is Involved in Resistance to Antimicrobial Plant Chemicals and Is Essential for Phytopathogenesis{dagger}

Ravi D. Barabote,1 Oswald L. Johnson,1 Eric Zetina,1 Susan K. San Francisco,2 Joe A. Fralick,2,3 and Michael J. D. San Francisco1,2,3*

Department of Biological Sciences,1 Center for Biotechnology and Genomics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409,2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas 794303

Received 13 May 2003/ Accepted 17 July 2003

TolC is the outer-membrane component of several multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pumps and plays an important role in the survival and virulence of many gram-negative bacterial animal pathogens. We have identified and characterized the outer-membrane protein-encoding gene tolC in the bacterial plant pathogen Erwinia chrysanthemi EC16. The gene was found to encode a 51-kDa protein with 70% identity to its Escherichia coli homologue. The E. chrysanthemi gene was able to functionally complement the E. coli tolC gene with respect to its role in MDR efflux pumps. A tolC mutant of E. chrysanthemi was found to be extremely sensitive to antimicrobial agents, including several plant-derived chemicals. This mutant was unable to grow in planta and its ability to cause plant tissue maceration was severely compromised. The tolC mutant was shown to be defective in the efflux of berberine, a model antimicrobial plant chemical. These results suggest that by conferring resistance to the antimicrobial compounds produced by plants, the E. chrysanthemi tolC plays an important role in the survival and colonization of the pathogen in plant tissue.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409. Phone (806) 742-2706. Fax: (806) 742-2963. E-mail: michael.sanfrancisco{at}ttu.edu.

{dagger} Dedicated to the memory of Noel Keen.

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2003, p. 5772-5778, Vol. 185, No. 19
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.19.5772-5778.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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