UCC scientists publish in prestigious journal
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UCC scientists publish in prestigious journal
18.03.2010
A team of scientists led by Dr Max Dow from the Signalling and Pathogensis group at the BIOMERIT Research Centre, Department of Microbiology, Biosciences Institute, UCC have had their recent findings accepted for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This work focused on the virulence mechanisms of regulation in plant pathogenic bacteria belonging to the genera Xanthomonas. The research team included: Robert P. Ryan, Yvonne McCarthy & J. Maxwell Dow (University College Cork, Ireland). Co-authors on this study included Maxuel Andrade & Chuck S. Farah (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) and Judith P. Armitage (University of Oxford, UK).

Previous work by the group showed that virulence of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) depends upon cell-cell signalling system mediated by the diffusible signal molecule (DSF). Synthesis of DSF is dependent on RpfF, whereas the RpfC/RpfG two-component system is implicated in DSF perception and signal transduction. RpfC is a complex sensor kinase whereas RpfG is a response regulator protein with a CheY-like receiver domain attached to an HD-GYP domain, which is a cyclic di-GMP phosphodiesterase.

This recent study demonstrated that a physical interaction of RpfG with two GGDEF domain-containing proteins, which are diguanylate cyclases involved in cyclic di-GMP synthesis, acts to control a sub-set of RpfG-regulated virulence functions. These observations expand the understanding of the role of the Rpf/DSF system in the virulence of Xcc and the role in signal transduction that RpfG plays.

In a broader context this study should help in understanding such mechanisms of virulence regulation in many bacterial pathogens and may assist in the development of specific inhibitors against such regulatory systems. Developing such inhibitors is becoming increasingly important with the growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance and the paucity of novel antibiotics.

This manuscript will be published in the April 2010 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is now available online. The Dow laboratory’s contribution to this study was supported by grants from Science Foundation of Ireland. Other aspects of the research were funded by the Enterprise Ireland, HFSP (Human Frontiers Science Programme), EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) and the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council).

For further details visit: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/recent

Reference: Robert P. Ryan, Yvonne McCarthy, Maxuel Andrade, Chuck S. Farah, Judith P. Armitage & J. Maxwell Dow (2010) Cell-cell signal dependent dynamic interactions between HD-GYP and GGDEF domain proteins mediate virulence in Xanthomonas campestris. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . DOI:10.1073/pnas.0912839107

Picture: Mrs Yvonne McCarthy, Dr Robert Ryan and Dr Max Dow, BIOMERIT Research Centre, Department of Microbiology, Biosciences Institute, UCC

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