An aerotaxis receptor influences invasion of Agrobacterium tumefaciens into its host
Zhiwei Huang,
Junnan Zou,
Minliang Guo,
Guoliang Zhang,
Jun Gao,
Hongliang Zhao,
Feiyu Yan,
Yuan Niu,
Guang-Long Wang
Affiliations
Zhiwei Huang
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Junnan Zou
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Minliang Guo
College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China
Guoliang Zhang
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Jun Gao
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Hongliang Zhao
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Feiyu Yan
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Yuan Niu
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Guang-Long Wang
Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Green and Low Carbon Production Technology Engineering Research Center, School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, China
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil-borne pathogenic bacterium that causes crown gall disease in many plants. Chemotaxis offers A. tumefaciens the ability to find its host and establish infection. Being an aerobic bacterium, A. tumefaciens possesses one chemotaxis system with multiple potential chemoreceptors. Chemoreceptors play an important role in perceiving and responding to environmental signals. However, the studies of chemoreceptors in A. tumefaciens remain relatively restricted. Here, we characterized a cytoplasmic chemoreceptor of A. tumefaciens C58 that contains an N-terminal globin domain. The chemoreceptor was designated as Atu1027. The deletion of Atu1027 not only eliminated the aerotactic response of A. tumefaciens to atmospheric air but also resulted in a weakened chemotactic response to multiple carbon sources. Subsequent site-directed mutagenesis and phenotypic analysis showed that the conserved residue His100 in Atu1027 is essential for the globin domain’s function in both chemotaxis and aerotaxis. Furthermore, deleting Atu1027 impaired the biofilm formation and pathogenicity of A. tumefaciens. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that Atu1027 functions as an aerotaxis receptor that affects agrobacterial chemotaxis and the invasion of A. tumefaciens into its host.
