Identification of putative TAL effector targets of the citrus canker pathogens shows functional convergence underlying disease development and defense response

• Published in: BMC genomics Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 157
• Main Authors: Pereira, Andre LA, Carazzolle, Marcelo F, Abe, Valeria Y, de Oliveira, Maria LP, Domingues, Mariane N, Silva, Jaqueline C, Cernadas, Raul A, Benedetti, Celso E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 25.02.2014; BioMed Central Ltd; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algorithms; Analysis; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell division; Cell growth; Citrus - genetics; Citrus - microbiology; Citrus aurantifolia; Citrus canker; Citrus sinensis; Cluster Analysis; Computational Biology; Convergence; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Experiments; Flowers & plants; Fruits; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genetic aspects; Genome, Plant; Genomes; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Life Sciences; Microarrays; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Molecular Sequence Data; Oryza sativa; Pathogens; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant genomics; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Proteins; Proteomics; Reproducibility of Results; Research Article; TATA Box; Transcription, Genetic; Xanthomonas; Xanthomonas - metabolism; Target genes; PthC; Citrus canker; PthA; TAL effectors
• ISSN: 1471-2164; 1471-2164
• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-157

Background Transcriptional activator-like (TAL) effectors, formerly known as the AvrBs3/PthA protein family, are DNA-binding effectors broadly found in Xanthomonas spp. that transactivate host genes upon injection via the bacterial type three-secretion system. Biologically relevant targets of TAL effectors, i.e. host genes whose induction is vital to establish a compatible interaction, have been reported for xanthomonads that colonize rice and pepper; however, citrus genes modulated by the TAL effectors PthA“s” and PthC“s” of the citrus canker bacteria Xanthomonas citri (Xc) and Xanthomonas aurantifolii pathotype C (XaC), respectively, are poorly characterized. Of particular interest, XaC causes canker disease in its host lemon ( Citrus aurantifolia ), but triggers a defense response in sweet orange. Results Based on, 1) the TAL effector-DNA binding code, 2) gene expression data of Xc and XaC-infiltrated sweet orange leaves, and 3) citrus hypocotyls transformed with PthA2, PthA4 or PthC1, we have identified a collection of Citrus sinensis genes potentially targeted by Xc and XaC TAL effectors. Our results suggest that similar with other strains of Xanthomonas TAL effectors, PthA2 and PthA4, and PthC1 to some extent, functionally converge. In particular, towards induction of genes involved in the auxin and gibberellin synthesis and response, cell division, and defense response. We also present evidence indicating that the TAL effectors act as transcriptional repressors and that the best scoring predicted DNA targets of PthA“s” and PthC“s” in citrus promoters predominantly overlap with or localize near to TATA boxes of core promoters, supporting the idea that TAL effectors interact with the host basal transcriptional machinery to recruit the RNA pol II and start transcription. Conclusions The identification of PthA“s” and PthC“s” targets, such as the LOB ( LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARY ) and CCNBS genes that we report here, is key for the understanding of the canker symptoms development during host susceptibility, or the defenses of sweet orange against the canker bacteria. We have narrowed down candidate targets to a few, which pointed out the host metabolic pathways explored by the pathogens.