Type I and type IV pili of Xylella fastidiosa affect twitching motility, biofilm formation and cell–cell aggregation
- 1 March 2007
- journal article
- Published by Microbiology Society in Microbiology
- Vol. 153 (3), 719-726
- https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.2006/002311-0
Abstract
Xylella fastidiosa, an important phytopathogenic bacterium, causes serious plant diseases including Pierce's disease of grapevine. It is reported here that type I and type IV pili of X. fastidiosa play different roles in twitching motility, biofilm formation and cell–cell aggregation. Type I pili are particularly important for biofilm formation and aggregation, whereas type IV pili are essential for motility, and also function in biofilm formation. Thirty twitching-defective mutants were generated with an EZ : : TN transposome system, and several type-IV-pilus-associated genes were identified, including fimT, pilX, pilY1, pilO and pilR. Mutations in fimT, pilX, pilO or pilR resulted in a twitch-minus phenotype, whereas the pilY1 mutant was twitching reduced. A mutation in fimA resulted in a biofilm-defective and twitching-enhanced phenotype. A fimA/pilO double mutant was twitch minus, and produced almost no visible biofilm. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the pili, when present, were localized to one pole of the cell. Both type I and type IV pili were present in the wild-type isolate and the pilY1 mutant, whereas only type I pili were present in the twitch-minus mutants. The fimA mutant produced no type I pili. The fimA/pilO double mutant produced neither type I nor type IV pili.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Regulation of type 1 fimbriae synthesis and biofilm formation by the transcriptional regulator LrhA of Escherichia coliMicrobiology, 2005
- Identification ofXylella fastidiosaAntivirulence Genes: Hemagglutinin Adhesins Contribute toX. fastidiosaBiofilm Maturation and Colonization and Attenuate VirulenceMolecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®, 2005
- PilX, a pilus‐associated protein essential for bacterial aggregation, is a key to pilus‐facilitated attachment of Neisseria meningitidis to human cellsMolecular Microbiology, 2004
- Type IV pilus biogenesis in Neisseria meningitidis: PilW is involved in a step occurring after pilus assembly, essential for fibre stability and functionMolecular Microbiology, 2004
- Gene expression profile of the plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa during biofilm formation in vitroFEMS Microbiology Letters, 2004
- Site-Directed Disruption of the fimA and fimF Fimbrial Genes of Xylella fastidiosaPhytopathology®, 2003
- Transposon Mutagenesis of Xylella fastidiosa by Electroporation of Tn5 Synaptic ComplexesMolecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®, 2001
- Fimbrial biogenesis genes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: pilW and pilX increase the similarity of type 4 fimbriae to the GSP protein‐secretion systems and pilY1 encodes a gonococcal PilC homologueMolecular Microbiology, 1996
- Analysis of adhesion, piliation, protease production and ocular infectivity of several P. aeruginosa strainsCurrent Eye Research, 1991
- Axenic culture of the bacteria associated with phony disease of peach and plum leaf scaldCurrent Microbiology, 1981