A nitrate-sensing domain-containing chemoreceptor is required for successful entry and virulence of Dickeya dadantii 3937 in potato plants

Nitrate metabolism plays an important role in bacterial physiology. During the interaction of plant-pathogenic bacteria with their hosts, bacteria face variable conditions with respect to nitrate availability. Perception mechanisms through the chemosensory pathway drive the entry and control the colonization of the plant host in phytopathogenic bacteria. In this work, the identification and characterization of the nitrate- and nitrite-sensing (NIT) domain-containing chemoreceptor of Dickeya dadantii 3937 (Dd3937) allowed us to unveil the key role of nitrate sensing not only for the entry into the plant apoplast through wounds but also for infection success. We determined the specificity of this chemoreceptor to bind nitrate and nitrite, with a slight ligand preference for nitrate. Gene expression analysis showed that nitrate perception controls not only the expression of nitrate reductase genes involved in respiratory and assimilatory metabolic processes but also the expression of gyrA, hrpN, and bgxA, three well-known virulence determinants in Dd3937

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato infection of tomato plants is mediated by GABA and l-Pro chemoperception

13 Pág. Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas (CBGP)This research was supported by project grant RTI2018-095222-B100 (to E.L-S.) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER “Una manera de hacer Europa”, grant PID2020-112612GB-I00 (to T.K.) from the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and grant P18-FR-1621 (to T.K.) from the Junta de Andalucía. C.G-R. was supported by grant BES-2017-082205 funded by the Severo Ochoa Program for Centers of Excellence in R&D from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain (Grant SEV-2016-06722017-2021) to the Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and M.M-P. was supported by grant PRE2019-087521 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FSE “El FSE invierte en tu futuro”.Peer reviewe