Dickeya Manipulates Multiple Quorum Sensing Systems to Control Virulence and Collective Behaviors

Abstract

Soft rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP), typical of Pectobacterium and Dickeya, are a class of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens that cause devastating diseases on a wide range of crops and ornamental plants worldwide. Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-cell communication mechanism regulating the expression of specific genes by releasing QS signal molecules associated with cell density, in most cases, involving in the vital process of virulence and infection. In recent years, several types of QS systems have been uncovered in Dickeya pathogens to control diverse biological behaviors, especially bacterial pathogenicity and transkingdom interactions. This review depicts an integral QS regulation network of Dickeya, elaborates in detail the regulation of specific QS system on different biological functions of the pathogens and hosts, aiming at providing a systematic overview of Dickeya pathogenicity and interactions with hosts, and, finally, expects the future prospective of effectively controlling the bacterial soft rot disease caused by Dickeya by quenching the key QS signal.

The integration host factor regulates multiple virulence pathways in bacterial pathogen Dickeya zeae MS2

“…The virulence of Dickeya spp. is controlled by highly sophisticated regulatory networks, a crucial one of which is the regulation by QS systems including the N‐acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) system encoded by expIR (Feng et al, 2019; Hussain et al, 2008), the virulence factor‐modulating (VFM) system encoded by the vfm gene cluster (Lv et al, 2019; Nasser et al, 2013), and the putrescine system, encoded by speA and speC (Liu et al, 2022; Shi et al, 2019). Furthermore, a luxR ‐solo system has also been characterized in D. zeae MS2, which regulates the activity of proline iminopeptidase PipA and contributes to the virulence of MS2 by an unknown mechanism (Feng et al, 2019).…”

Isolation and Genome Analysis of Pectobacterium colocasium sp. nov. and Pectobacterium aroidearum, Two New Pathogens of Taro

“…The two newly identified Pectobacterium pathogens of taro and the genomic data generated in this study represent valuable resources for further investigation of the pathogenic mechanisms of SRP, and shed insights into the development of disease control strategies. The production of PCWDEs is controlled by different QS systems between Pectobacterium and Dickeya ( Liu et al, 2022 ). The AHL QS system is crucial in the production of PCWDEs and other virulence factors in Pectobacterium ( Barnard and Salmond, 2007 ; Liu et al, 2008 ), but has little impact on the total pectate lyase activity in Dickeya ( Nasser et al, 1998 ; Liu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The production of PCWDEs is controlled by different QS systems between Pectobacterium and Dickeya ( Liu et al, 2022 ). The AHL QS system is crucial in the production of PCWDEs and other virulence factors in Pectobacterium ( Barnard and Salmond, 2007 ; Liu et al, 2008 ), but has little impact on the total pectate lyase activity in Dickeya ( Nasser et al, 1998 ; Liu et al, 2022 ). Instead, the Dickeya -specific QS system VFM plays a key role in regulating the production of PCWDEs ( Nasser et al, 2013 ; Lv et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The AHL QS system is crucial in the production of PCWDEs and other virulence factors in Pectobacterium ( Barnard and Salmond, 2007 ; Liu et al, 2008 ), but has little impact on the total pectate lyase activity in Dickeya ( Nasser et al, 1998 ; Liu et al, 2022 ). Instead, the Dickeya -specific QS system VFM plays a key role in regulating the production of PCWDEs ( Nasser et al, 2013 ; Lv et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2022 ). Therefore, in the control of taro soft rot, strategies (e.g., quorum-quenching biocontrol agents) targeting the VFM QS system will likely give rise to better efficacy for Dickeya spp.…”

Comparative Pathogenomic Analysis of Two Banana Pathogenic Dickeya Strains Isolated from China and the Philippines

“…From 2010 to 2012, the average incidence increased from 20% to 70%, with up to 90% incidence in some plantations [ 34 ]. Studies on the virulence of D. zeae revealed similar patterns of pathogenic mechanism and repertoire of virulence factors in D. dadantii 3937, manifested as the AHL QS system and the cyclic-di-GMP second messenger regulating cell motility and biofilm formation [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ], the VFM QS system modulating the production of PCWDEs [ 38 , 39 ], and the SlyA and Fis regulators regulating the virulence-associated phenotypes [ 40 , 41 ]. Characterization of D. zeae banana strain MS2 revealed an additional virulence factor that is a novel antibiotic-like toxin(s) [ 5 , 36 ] that differs from the polyketide polyamine antibiotic zeamines [ 42 ].…”