Ralstonia solanacearum is a major phytopathogen that attacks many crops and other plants over a broad geographical range. The extensive genetic diversity of strains responsible for the various bacterial wilt diseases has in recent years led to the concept of an R. solanacearum species complex. Genome sequencing of more than 10 strains representative of the main phylogenetic groups has broadened our knowledge of the evolution and speciation of this pathogen and led to the identification of novel virulence-associated functions. Comparative genomic analyses are now opening the way for refined functional studies. The many molecular determinants involved in pathogenicity and host-range specificity are described, and we also summarize current understanding of their roles in pathogenesis and how their expression is tightly controlled by an intricate virulence regulatory network.

SummaryExpression of virulence genes in Ralstonia solanacearum, a phytopathogenic bacterium, is controlled by a complex regulatory network that integrates multiple signal inputs. Production of several virulence determinants is co-ordinately reduced by inactivation of phcB, but is restored by growth in the presence of a volatile extracellular factor (VEF) produced by wildtype strains of R. solanacearum. The VEF was purified from spent culture broth by distillation, solvent extraction, and liquid chromatography. Gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy identified 3-hydroxypalmitic acid methyl ester (3-OH PAME) as the major component in the single peak of VEF activity. Authentic 3-OH PAME and the purified VEF were active at Յ1 nM, and had nearly equivalent specific activities for stimulating the expression of eps (the biosynthetic locus for extracellular polysaccharide) in a phcB mutant. Authentic 3-OH PAME also increased the production of three virulence factors by a phcB mutant over 20-fold to wild-type levels, restored normal cell density-associated expression of eps and increased expression of eps when delivered via the vapour phase. Reanalysis of the PhcB amino acid sequence suggested that it is a small-molecule S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase, which might catalyse synthesis of 3-OH PAME from a naturally occurring fatty acid. Biologically active concentrations of extracellular 3-OH PAME were detected before the onset of eps expression, suggesting that it is an intercellular signal that autoregulates virulence gene expression in wild-type R. solanacearum. Other than acyl-homoserine lactones, 3-OH PAME is the only endogenous fatty acid derivative shown to be an autoregulator and may be the first example of a new family of compounds that can mediate long-distance intercellular communication.

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SummaryAs reported previously for Ralstonia solanacearum strain GMI1000, wild-type strains AW1 and K60 were shown to produce Hrp pili. AW1 and K60 mutants lacking Hrp pili still exhibited twitching motility, which requires type 4 pili (Tfp), and electron microscopy revealed that they still made flexuous polar pili. Twitching-positive cells had an extracellular 17 kDa protein that was associated with piliation, and an internal 43-amino-acid sequence of this protein was typical of type 4 pilins. This amino acid sequence is encoded by an open reading frame, designated pilA , in the genomic sequence of GMI1000. PilA is 46% identical to a Pseudomonas aeruginosa type 4 pilin over its entire length and has all the conserved residues and motifs characteristic of type 4 group A pilins. pilA mutants did not make the 17 kDa PilA protein and did not exhibit twitching motility. When compared with its parent, an AW1 pilA mutant was reduced in virulence on tomato plants and in autoaggregation and biofilm formation in broth culture. Unlike AW1, a pilA mutant did not exhibit polar attachment to tobacco suspension culture cells or to tomato roots; it was also not naturally competent for transformation. We reported previously that twitching motility ceases in maturing AW1 colonies and that inactivation of PhcA, a global transcriptional regulator, results in colonies that continue to exhibit twitching motility. Similarly, in broth culture, expression of a pilA :: lacZ fusion in AW1 decreased 10-fold at high cell density, but expression remained high in a phcA mutant. In addition, pilA :: lacZ expression was positively regulated 10-fold by PehR, a response regulator that is known to be repressed by PhcA. This signal cascade is sufficient to explain why pilA expression, and thus twitching motility, decreases at high cell densities.

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