Host Specificity and Differential Pathogenicity of Pectobacterium Strains from Dicot and Monocot Hosts
Nirmal Khadka1,2, Janak Raj Joshi1,2, Noam Reznik2
1Department of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 12, 7610001 Rehovot, Israel.
Abstract:
Recent phylogenetic studies have transferred certain isolates from monocot plants previously included in the heterogeneous group of Pectobacteriumcarotovorum (Pc) to a species level termed Pectobacterium aroidearum. The specificity of Pectobacterium associated infections had received less attention, and may be of high scientific and economic importance. Here, we have characterized differential responses of Pectobacterium isolates from potato (WPP14) and calla lily (PC16) on two typical hosts: Brassica oleracea var. capitata (cabbage) a dicot host; and Zantedeschia aethiopica (calla lily) a monocot host. The results revealed clear host specific responses following infection with the two bacterial strains. This was demonstrated by differential production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the expression of plant defense-related genes (pal, PR-1, lox2, ast). A related pattern was observed in bacterial responses to each of the host's extract, with differential expression of virulence-related determinants and genes associated with quorum-sensing and plant cell wall-degrading enzymes. The differences were associated with each strain's competence on its respective host.
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