Plant rot bacteria weaponize a growth hormone to cause disease
Roca A, Santamaría-Hernando S, Udaondo Z, Cabrera JJ, Godoy P
Plant Signaling
The mushy, foul-smelling rot that ruins stored potatoes, carrots, and ornamental bulbs in your garden shed is often caused by this same bacterial family, and this discovery points toward future treatments that stop the infection without blanket antibiotics.
Plants make a hormone called auxin to control their own growth, but scientists found that a nasty plant-rotting bacterium called Dickeya dadantii makes its own version of this hormone too, and uses it to boost its ability to infect plants. When researchers stopped the bacteria from making this hormone, the germs became much weaker at causing disease and pumping out defenses against the plant's own chemical attacks. This opens the door to new treatments that target the hormone system itself rather than trying to kill the bacteria outright.
Key Findings
Blocking IAA (auxin) production in Dickeya dadantii reduced its virulence and fitness during plant infection
The bacterium uses an efflux pump called AaeXAB, regulated by its own IAA, to secrete the hormone and resist plant defense chemicals
AaeXAB-like genes are widespread among plant-associated bacteria, and IAA production is controlled by a network including quorum-sensing systems and regulators TyrR, TrpR, and LrhA
chevron_right Technical Summary
A destructive plant-rotting bacterium hijacks the same growth hormone plants use to grow, turning it into a chemical weapon that helps the germ invade and weaken its host. Blocking this hormone hijack could lead to new ways to fight crop and garden diseases without traditional antibiotics.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Auxin biosynthesis and signaling drive virulence and plant adaptation in Dickeya dadantii.
Plants and their associated bacteria engage in complex bidirectional interactions mediated by a diverse array of signaling molecules of both plant and microbial origin. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) i...
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