Rotting softly and stealthily

• Published in: Current opinion in plant biology Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 424 - 429
• Main Authors: Toth, Ian K, Birch, Paul RJ
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2005
• Subjects: bacterial diseases of plants; bacterial proteins; bacterial toxins; Cell Wall - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; host-pathogen relationships; literature reviews; pathogenesis; Pectobacterium carotovorum; Pectobacterium carotovorum - pathogenicity; Pectobacterium carotovorum - physiology; Pectobacterium chrysanthemi; Plant Diseases - microbiology; plant pathogenic bacteria; plants; Plants - immunology; Plants - metabolism; Plants - microbiology; quorum sensing; Signal Transduction; Type III secretion system
• ISSN: 1369-5266; 1879-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2005.04.001

The soft rot erwiniae, which are plant pathogens on potato and other crops world-wide, synthesize and secrete large quantities of plant cell wall degrading enzymes that are responsible for the soft rot phenotype, earning them the epithet ‘brute force’ pathogens. They have been distinguished from classic ‘stealth’ pathogens, such as
Pseudomonas syringae, which possesses an extensive battery of Type III secreted effector proteins and phytotoxins to manipulate and suppress host defences. However, recent studies, including whole-genome sequencing, are revealing many components of stealth pathogenesis within the soft rot erwiniae (SRE), suggesting that ‘stealth’ and ‘brute force’ should not be regarded as mutually exclusive modes of pathogenesis.