AbstractXanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is a plant pathogen responsible for causing bacterial blight in rice. It is responsible for blight outbreaks in most rice-producing countries and can reduce the rice yield by 50% due to the lack of an effective pesticide. The immediate alterations in Xoo upon initial contact with rice at the infection site are essential for pathogenesis. Here, we studied time-resolved gene expression in pathogenicity-activated Xoo cells at the trans criptome and proteome levels. The early response genes of Xoo include genes related to cell motility, inorganic ion transport, and effectors, which aid the Xoo cells to invade damaged rice leaf tissues, obtain scarce cofactors, and evade rice immune responses, respectively. Alteration of gene expression is initiated as early as few minutes after the initial interaction and changes with time. Although there was a correlation between the overall expression patterns of mRNAs and proteins for many genes, some genes also exhibited differences with respect to the expression timing and level of mRNAs and proteins, suggesting an important role of translational regulation in the early stages of pathogenesis. Gene expression analysis using time-resolved transcriptome and proteome data provided valuable information regarding Xoo pathogenesis during the initial stages of Xoo-rice interaction and revealed translational regulation of gene expression in bacteria.
Time-resolved pathogenic gene expression analysis of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae
