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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 #285649
Title: CrcZ and CrcX regulate carbon utilization in Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato strain DC3000

Author
item Filiatrault, Melanie
item Stodghill, Paul
item Wilson, Janet
item BUTCHER, BRONWYN - Cornell University
item CHEN, HANRONG - Cornell University
item MEYERS, CHRISTOPHER - Cornell University
item Cartinhour, Samuel

Submitted to: RNA Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2012
Publication Date: 2/1/2013
Citation: Filiatrault, M.J., Stodghill, P., Wilson, J.M., Butcher, B.G., Chen, H., Meyers, C.R., Cartinhour, S.W. 2013. CrcZ and CrcX regulate carbon utilization in Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato strain DC3000. RNA Biology. 10(2):243-253.

Interpretive Summary: Bacteria produce molecules in the cell called small RNAs. The plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato strain DC3000 produces a number of small RNAs however the functions of most of them are unknown. We examined the role of two small RNAs in DC3000 and found that production of these small RNAs in the bacterial cell controls the response of the bacteria to carbon and the bacteria’s ability to use different carbon sources for growth. We also found that one of the small RNAs is unique to P. syringae strains and could be important for its growth and survival in the environment and ability to cause disease. We may be able to block this small molecule in order to prevent plant diseases caused by P. syringae strains.

Technical Abstract: Small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are important components of many regulatory pathways in bacteria and play key roles in regulating factors important for virulence. Carbon catabolite repression control is modulated by small RNAs (crcZ or crcZ and crcY) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas putida. In this study, we demonstrate that expression of crcZ and crcX (formerly designated psr1 and psr2, respectively) is dependent upon RpoN together with the two-component system CbrAB, and is influenced by the carbon source present in the medium in the model plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. The distribution of the members of the Crc ncRNA family was also determined by screening available genomic sequences of the Pseudomonads. Interestingly, variable numbers of the Crc family members exist in Pseudomonas genomes. The ncRNAs are comprised of three main subfamilies, named CrcZ, CrcX, and CrcY. Most importantly the CrcX subfamily appears to be unique to all P. syringae strains sequenced to date.