Many plant bacteriologists, if not all, feel that their particular microbe should appear in any list of the most important bacterial plant pathogens. However, to our knowledge, no such list exists. The aim of this review was to survey all bacterial pathologists with an association with the journal Molecular Plant Pathology and ask them to nominate the bacterial pathogens they would place in a 'Top 10' based on scientific/economic importance. The survey generated 458 votes from the international community, and allowed the construction of a Top 10 bacterial plant pathogen list. The list includes, in rank order: (1) Pseudomonas syringae pathovars; (2) Ralstonia solanacearum; (3) Agrobacterium tumefaciens; (4) Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae; (5) Xanthomonas campestris pathovars; (6) Xanthomonas axonopodis pathovars; (7) Erwinia amylovora; (8) Xylella fastidiosa; (9) Dickeya (dadantii and solani); (10) Pectobacterium carotovorum (and Pectobacterium atrosepticum). Bacteria garnering honourable mentions for just missing out on the Top 10 include Clavibacter michiganensis (michiganensis and sepedonicus), Pseudomonas savastanoi and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. This review article presents a short section on each bacterium in the Top 10 list and its importance, with the intention of initiating discussion and debate amongst the plant bacteriology community, as well as laying down a benchmark. It will be interesting to see, in future years, how perceptions change and which bacterial pathogens enter and leave the Top 10.

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Top 10 plant pathogenic bacteria in molecular plant pathology

Hypertension 66 (20.3%) 24 (24.2%) 30 (16.3%) NS Diabetes 20 (6.2%) 7 (7.1%) 10 (5.4%) NS Excess weight 78 (24%) 27 (27.3%) 44 (23.9%) NS Smokers 64 (19.7%) 17 (17.2%) 35 (19.0%) NS Age >50 years 137 (42.2%) 54 (54.5%) 67 (36.4%) <0.02 Kidney disease 7 (2.2%) 1 (1%) 5 (2.7%) NS Family history, DM 102 (31.4%) 28 (28.3%) 66 (35.9%) NS

Conflict of interest statement. None declared.

The global emergence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is a growing threat to antibiotic therapy. The chromosomally encoded drug efflux mechanisms that are ubiquitous in these bacteria greatly contribute to antibiotic resistance and present a major challenge for antibiotic development. Multidrug pumps, particularly those represented by the clinically relevant AcrAB-TolC and Mex pumps of the resistance-nodulation-division (RND) superfamily, not only mediate intrinsic and acquired multidrug resistance (MDR) but also are involved in other functions, including the bacterial stress response and pathogenicity. Additionally, efflux pumps interact synergistically with other resistance mechanisms (e.g., with the outer membrane permeability barrier) to increase resistance levels. Since the discovery of RND pumps in the early 1990s, remarkable scientific and technological advances have allowed for an in-depth understanding of the structural and biochemical basis, substrate profiles, molecular regulation, and inhibition of MDR pumps. However, the development of clinically useful efflux pump inhibitors and/or new antibiotics that can bypass pump effects continues to be a challenge. Plasmid-borne efflux pump genes (including those for RND pumps) have increasingly been identified. This article highlights the recent progress obtained for organisms of clinical significance, together with methodological considerations for the characterization of MDR pumps.

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The Challenge of Efflux-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen affecting immunocompromised patients. It is known as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and as one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections. Due to a range of mechanisms for adaptation, survival and resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics, infections by P. aeruginosa strains can be life-threatening and it is emerging worldwide as public health threat. This review highlights the diversity of mechanisms by which P. aeruginosa promotes its survival and persistence in various environments and particularly at different stages of pathogenesis. We will review the importance and complexity of regulatory networks and genotypic-phenotypic variations known as adaptive radiation by which P. aeruginosa adjusts physiological processes for adaptation and survival in response to environmental cues and stresses. Accordingly, we will review the central regulatory role of quorum sensing and signaling systems by nucleotide-based second messengers resulting in different lifestyles of P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, various regulatory proteins will be discussed which form a plethora of controlling systems acting at transcriptional level for timely expression of genes enabling rapid responses to external stimuli and unfavorable conditions. Antibiotic resistance is a natural trait for P. aeruginosa and multiple mechanisms underlying different forms of antibiotic resistance will be discussed here. The importance of each mechanism in conferring resistance to various antipseudomonal antibiotics and their prevalence in clinical strains will be described. The underlying principles for acquiring resistance leading pan-drug resistant strains will be summarized. A future outlook emphasizes the need for collaborative international multidisciplinary efforts to translate current knowledge into strategies to prevent and treat P. aeruginosa infections while reducing the rate of antibiotic resistance and avoiding the spreading of resistant strains.

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lifestyle: A Paradigm for Adaptation, Survival, and Persistence.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a metabolically versatile bacterium that is found in a wide range of biotic and abiotic habitats. It is a major human opportunistic pathogen causing numerous acute and chronic infections. The critical traits contributing to the pathogenic potential of P. aeruginosa are the production of a myriad of virulence factors, formation of biofilms and antibiotic resistance. Expression of these traits is under stringent regulation, and it responds to largely unidentified environmental signals. This review is focused on providing a global picture of virulence gene regulation in P. aeruginosa. In addition to key regulatory pathways that control the transition from acute to chronic infection phenotypes, some regulators have been identified that modulate multiple virulence mechanisms. Despite of a propensity for chaotic behaviour, no chaotic motifs were readily observed in the P. aeruginosa virulence regulatory network. Having a 'birds-eye' view of the regulatory cascades provides the forum opportunities to pose questions, formulate hypotheses and evaluate theories in elucidating P. aeruginosa pathogenesis. Understanding the mechanisms involved in making P. aeruginosa a successful pathogen is essential in helping devise control strategies.

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A dynamic and intricate regulatory network determines Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence

A multilocus sequence analysis of the genus Xanthomonas.

The species Xanthomonas campestris (Vauterin) groups bacteria associated with cruciferous plants. In order to clarify and refine the pathovar and race structures within X. campestris, 47 representative strains of six pathovars were characterized for their pathogenicity on a large host range of Brassicaceae, including all original hosts. Three diseases were observed on tested plants: (i) black rot disease on cruciferous plants; it was proposed that all strains causing black rot on at least one cruciferous plant be grouped in the single pathovar X. c. pv. campestris; (ii) leaf spot disease caused by X. c. pv. raphani on hosts belonging to the Brassicaceae and Solanaceae; the sequenced strain 756C identified as X. c. pv. armoraciae was included in this pathovar and the existence of another leaf spot disease caused by X. c. pv. armoraciae was not supported; and (iii) bacterial blight of garden stocks caused by X. c. pv. incanae. No plants susceptible to X. c. pv. barbareae were found. Strains that did not induce any symptom on cruciferous plants tested, including their original hosts, were removed from the pathovar scheme and were named X. campestris only. Three new races were described in addition to the six races previously described within X. c. pv. campestris. The sequenced strains ATCC 33913 (CFBP 5241) and Xcc 8004 (CFBP 6650) belonged to race 3 and to race 9 (one of the new races described), respectively.

Pathogenicity assays restrict the species Xanthomonas campestris into three pathovars and reveal nine races within X. campestris pv. campestris

Bacteria encode multiple protein secretion systems that are crucial for interaction with the environment and with hosts. In recent years, attention has focused on type VI secretion systems (T6SSs), which are specialized transporters widely encoded in Proteobacteria. The myriad of processes associated with these secretion systems could be explained by subclasses of T6SS, each involved in specialized functions. To assess diversity and predict function associated with different T6SSs, comparative genomic analysis of 34 Pseudomonas genomes was performed. This identified 70 T6SSs, with at least one locus in every strain, except for Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501. By comparing 11 core genes of the T6SS, it was possible to identify five main Pseudomonas phylogenetic clusters, with strains typically carrying T6SSs from more than one clade. In addition, most strains encode additional vgrG and hcp genes, which encode extracellular structural components of the secretion apparatus. Using a combination of phylogenetic and meta-analysis of transcriptome datasets it was possible to associate specific subsets of VgrG and Hcp proteins with each Pseudomonas T6SS clade. Moreover, a closer examination of the genomic context of vgrG genes in multiple strains highlights a number of additional genes associated with these regions. It is proposed that these genes may play a role in secretion or alternatively could be new T6S effectors.

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Genomic analysis of the type VI secretion systems in Pseudomonas spp.: novel clusters and putative effectors uncovered

The LysR-family regulator MexT modulates the expression of the MexEF-OprN efflux system in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa Recently, we demonstrated that MexT regulates certain virulence phenotypes, including the type-three secretion system and early attachment independent of its role in regulating MexEF-OprN In this study, transcriptome profiling was utilized to investigate the global nature of MexT regulation in P aeruginosa PAO1 and an isogenic mexEF mutant Twelve genes of unknown function were highly induced by overexpressing MexT independent of MexEF-OprN A well-conserved DNA motif was identified in the upstream regulatory region of nine of these genes and upstream of mexE Reporter fusion analysis demonstrated that the expression of the genes was significantly induced by MexT in P aeruginosa and a heterogenous Escherichia coli strain and that the conserved sequence was required for this induction The conserved DNA motif was further characterized as the MexT binding site by site-directed mutagenesis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays Genes containing this conserved regulatory sequence were identified across other Pseudomonas species, and their expression was activated by MexT Thus, a novel regulon directly modulated by MexT, that includes but is independent of mexEF-oprN, has been identified

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Emilie Fargier

Papers

A multilocus sequence analysis of the genus Xanthomonas.

Pathogenicity assays restrict the species Xanthomonas campestris into three pathovars and reveal nine races within X. campestris pv. campestris

Genomic analysis of the type VI secretion systems in Pseudomonas spp.: novel clusters and putative effectors uncovered

Transcriptome profiling defines a novel regulon modulated by the LysR-type transcriptional regulator MexT in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

MexT modulates virulence determinants in Pseudomonas aeruginosa independent of the MexEF-OprN efflux pump.