Browsing by Author "Traore, Sy M."

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    Characterization of Effector Genes in Acidovorax citrulli the Causing Agent of Bacteria Fruit Blotch Disease of Cucurbits
    Traore, Sy M. (Virginia Tech, 2014-08-08)
    Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) of cucurbits is caused by Acidovorax citrulli, a Gram-negative seedborne bacterium that can cause up to 100% fruit yield losses in the field. Currently, BFB is a major problem for the cucurbits industry worldwide. Thus far, attempts to identify resistance in cucurbit germplasm for controlling BFB have been unsuccessful. Despite the importance of the disease, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of A. citrulli pathogenicity, due to a lack of molecular tools for studying the A. citrulli/cucurbit interaction. The genomic sequence of A. citrulli strain AAC00-1 has been determined, and the components of type III secretion system have been identified. The goal of this research was to develop molecular tools for studying the BFB disease. Nineteen putative type III effector genes were cloned from two representative A. citrulli strains (AAC00-1 and M6). The distribution of 19 type III effectors among A. citrulli strains, collected worldwide, was studied. A novel Gateway-compatible binary vector was developed for transient expression of A. citrulli type III effectors genes in planta. A set of modified vectors for marker-exchange mutagenesis in A. citrulli were constructed. The model plant species Nicotiana benthamiana was found to be susceptible to A. citrulli, while Nicotiana tabacum was resistance to A. citrulli, so therefore could carry nonhost resistance genes. Two T3S effectors, Aave1548 and Aave2166, triggered water soaking-like cell death in N. benthamiana, but HR-like cell death in N. tabacum. Bacterial mutagenesis and in planta disease assay confirmed that both Aave1548 and Aave2166 have significant virulence contributions to A. citrulli in N. benthamiana plant and melon seeds. Aave2166 encodes a putative acetyltransferase that belongs to the YopJ super family, which is conserved in both animal and plant pathogenic bacteria. Wild type but not the putative catalytic mutant (C232A) of Aave2166 can trigger cell death phenotype in N. benthamiana and N. tabacum. N. benthamiana yeast two-hybrid cDNA library screening using Aave2166 identified six N. benthamiana proteins/peptides which specifically interacted with Aave2166. Further characterization of these Aave2166 interactors may allow us to understand the virulence mechanism provided by Aave2166. The identification of nonhost resistance genes that can recognize Aave2166 and other type III effectors may help to develop novel strategies to control BFB disease of cucurbit.
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    Nicotiana species as surrogate host for studying the pathogenicity of Acidovorax citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch of cucurbits
    Traore, Sy M.; Eckshtain-Levi, Noam; Miao, Jiamin; Sparks, Anita Castro; Wang, Zhibo; Wang, Kunru; Li, Qi; Burdman, Saul; Walcott, Ron; Welbaum, Gregory E.; Zhao, Bingyu (Wiley, 2019-06-01)
    Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) caused by Acidovorax citrulli is one of the most important bacterial diseases of cucurbits worldwide. However, the mechanisms associated with A. citrulli pathogenicity and genetics of host resistance have not been extensively investigated. We idenitfied Nicotiana benthamiana and Nicotiana tabacum as surrogate hosts for studying A. citrulli pathogenicity and non-host resistance triggered by type III secreted (T3S) effectors. Two A. citrulli strains, M6 and AAC00-1, that represent the two major groups amongst A. citrulli populations, induced disease symptoms on N. benthamiana, but triggered a hypersensitive response (HR) on N. tabacum plants. Transient expression of 19 T3S effectors from A. citrulli in N. benthamiana leaves revealed that three effectors, Aave_1548, Aave_2708, and Aave_2166, trigger water-soaking-like cell death in N. benthamiana. Aave_1548 knockout mutants of M6 and AAC00-1 displayed reduced virulence on N. benthamiana and melon (Cucumis melo L.). Transient expression of Aave_1548 and Aave_2166 effectors triggered a non-host HR in N. tabacum, which was dependent on the functionality of the immune signalling component, NtSGT1. Hence, employing Nicotiana species as surrogate hosts for studying A. citrulli pathogenicity may help characterize the function of A. citrulli T3S effectors and facilitate the development of new strategies for BFB management.
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    A novel Gateway(R)-compatible binary vector allows direct selection of recombinant clones in Agrobacterium tumefaciens
    Traore, Sy M.; Zhao, Bingyu Y. (BMC, 2011-12-07)
    Background Cloning genes into plasmid vectors is one of the key steps for studying gene function. Recently, Invitrogen& developed a convenient Gateway® cloning system based on the site-specific DNA recombination properties of bacteriophage lambda and the cytotoxic protein ccdB, which is lethal to most E. coli strains. The ccdB protein, however, is not toxic to Agrobacterium tumefaciens, an important player often used for studying gene function in planta. This limits the direct application of the Gateway® cloning system in plant transformation-mediated research. Results In this study, we constructed a novel Gateway®-compatible destination vector, pEG101-SacB/R, by replacing the ccdB gene with a SacB-SacR gene cassette as the negative selectable marker. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that the new pEG101-SacB/R destination vector can be used for Gateway® cloning in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. pEG101-SacB/R will be a valuable tool for high-throughput functional analysis of genes in planta.