Genome sequence of the enterobacterial phytopathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica and characterization of virulence factors
- K. S. Bell*,†,
- M. Sebaihia*,
- L. Pritchard†,
- M. T. G. Holden*,
- L. J. Hyman†,
- M. C. Holeva†,
- N. R. Thomson*,
- S. D. Bentley*,
- L. J. C. Churcher*,
- K. Mungall*,
- R. Atkin*,
- N. Bason*,
- K. Brooks*,
- T. Chillingworth*,
- K. Clark*,
- J. Doggett*,
- A. Fraser*,
- Z. Hance*,
- H. Hauser*,
- K. Jagels*,
- S. Moule*,
- H. Norbertczak*,
- D. Ormond*,
- C. Price*,
- M. A. Quail*,
- M. Sanders*,
- D. Walker*,
- S. Whitehead*,
- G. P. C. Salmond‡,
- P. R. J. Birch†,
- J. Parkhill*,§, and
- I. K. Toth†,§
- *The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, United Kingdom; †Plant–Pathogen Interactions Programme, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, United Kingdom; and ‡Department of Biochemistry, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1QW, United Kingdom
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Edited by Robert Haselkorn, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and approved June 3, 2004 (received for review April 6, 2004)
Abstract
The bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae is notable for its well studied human pathogens, including Salmonella, Yersinia, Shigella, and Escherichia spp. However, it also contains several plant pathogens. We report the genome sequence of a plant pathogenic enterobacterium, Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica (Eca) strain SCRI1043, the causative agent of soft rot and blackleg potato diseases. Approximately 33% of Eca genes are not shared with sequenced enterobacterial human pathogens, including some predicted to facilitate unexpected metabolic traits, such as nitrogen fixation and opine catabolism. This proportion of genes also contains an overrepresentation of pathogenicity determinants, including possible horizontally acquired gene clusters for putative type IV secretion and polyketide phytotoxin synthesis. To investigate whether these gene clusters play a role in the disease process, an arrayed set of insertional mutants was generated, and mutations were identified. Plant bioassays showed that these mutants were significantly reduced in virulence, demonstrating both the presence of novel pathogenicity determinants in Eca, and the impact of functional genomics in expanding our understanding of phytopathogenicity in the Enterobacteriaceae.
Footnotes
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↵ § To whom correspondence may be addressed: E-mail: parkhill{at}sanger.ac.uk or itoth{at}scri.sari.ac.uk.
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This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
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Abbreviations: Eca, Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica; Ecc, Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora; Ech, Erwinia chrysanthemi; CDS, coding sequence; HAI, horizontally acquired genomic island; RBH, reciprocal best hit; PCWDE, plant cell wall-degrading enzyme; T3SS, type III secretion system; T4SS, type IV secretion system; LSD, least significant difference.
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Data deposition: The sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the EMBL/GenBank database (accession no. BX950851).
- Copyright © 2004, The National Academy of Sciences
