AUTHOR=Piechocki Marcin , Giska Fabian , Koczyk Grzegorz , Grynberg Marcin , Krzymowska Magdalena 

TITLE=An Engineered Distant Homolog of Pseudomonas syringae TTSS Effector From Physcomitrella patens Can Act as a Bacterial Virulence Factor

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01060

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.01060

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Pseudomonas syringae</italic> pv. <italic>phaseolicola</italic> is the causative agent of halo blight in common bean (<italic>Phaseolus vulgaris</italic>). Similar to other pathogenic gram-negative bacteria, it secrets a set of type III effectors into host cells to subvert defense mechanisms. HopQ1 (for Hrp outer protein Q) is one of these type III effectors contributing to virulence of bacteria. Upon delivery into a plant cell, HopQ1 undergoes phosphorylation, binds host 14-3-3 proteins and suppresses defense-related signaling. Some plants however, evolved systems to recognize HopQ1 and respond to its presence and thus to prevent infection. HopQ1 shows homology to <underline>N</underline>ucleoside <underline>H</underline>ydrolases (NHs), but it contains a modified calcium binding motif not found in the canonical enzymes. <underline>CL</underline>uster <underline>AN</underline>alysis of Sequences (CLANS) revealed that HopQ1 and alike proteins make a distinct group of putative NHs located distantly from the classical enzymes. The <underline>H</underline>opQ1 – <underline>l</underline>ike <underline>p</underline>rotein (HLP) group comprises sequences from plant pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and lower plants. Our data suggest that the evolution of HopQ1 homologs in bacteria, fungi, and algae was independent. The location of moss HopQ1 homologs inside the fungal clade indicates a possibility of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between those taxa. We identified a HLP in the moss <italic>Physcomitrella patens</italic>. Our experiments show that this protein (referred to as PpHLP) extended by a TTSS signal of HopQ1 promoted <italic>P. syringae</italic> growth in bean and was recognized by <italic>Nicotiana benthamiana</italic> immune system. Thus, despite the low sequence similarity to HopQ1 the engineered PpHLP acted as a bacterial virulence factor and displayed similar to HopQ1 virulence properties.</p>