Small RNA ArcZ Regulates Oxidative Stress Response Genes and Regulons in Erwinia amylovora

Abstract

Erwinia amylovora, causative agent of fire blight disease of apple and pear trees, has evolved to use small RNAs for post-transcriptional regulation of virulence traits important for disease development. The sRNA ArcZ regulates several virulence traits, and to better understand its roles, we conducted a transcriptomic comparison of wild-type and ΔarcZ mutant E. amylovora. We found that ArcZ regulates multiple cellular processes including genes encoding enzymes involved in mitigating the threat of reactive oxygen species (katA, tpx, osmC), and that the ΔarcZ mutant has reduced catalase activity and is more susceptible to exogenous hydrogen peroxide. We quantified hydrogen peroxide production by apple leaves inoculated with E. amylovora and found that the while wild-type E. amylovora cells produce enough catalase to cope with defense peroxide, the ΔarcZ mutant is likely limited in virulence because of inability to cope with peroxide levels in host leaves. We further found that the ArcZ regulon overlaps significantly with the regulons of transcription factors involved in oxidative sensing including Fnr and ArcA. In addition, we show that ArcZ regulates arcA at the post-transcriptional level suggesting a role for this system in mediating adaptations to oxidative state, especially during disease development.

Implication of the Type III Effector RipS1 in the Cool-Virulence of Ralstonia solanacearum Strain UW551

“…The halo of cells swimming from the point of inoculation was quantified using ImageJ analysis software (Abràmoff et al, 2004). Susceptibility to exogenous hydrogen peroxide was conducted as described previously (Schachterle et al, 2019), with the modification that CPG medium was used instead of LB. Briefly, overnight cultures of R. solanacearum were washed with sterile water and diluted to an OD 600 of 0.1.…”