Molecular Basis of Gene-for-Gene Specificity in Bacterial Speck Disease of Tomato
S. R. Scofield, J. P. Rathjen, J. H. Chang, D. T. Lavelle, NSF Center for Engineering Plants for Resistance Against Pathogens (CEPRAP), University of California, Davis, CA 95616. C. M. Tobias, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. R. W. Michelmore, NSF Center for Engineering Plants for Resistance Against Pathogens and Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. B. J. Staskawicz, NSF Center for Engineering Plants for Resistance Against Pathogens and Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 94720.
Transient expression of the Pseudomonas syringae avirulence gene avrPto in plant cells resulted in a Pto-dependent necrosis. The AvrPto avirulence protein was observed to interact directly with the Pto resistance protein in the yeast two-hybrid system. Mutations in the Pto and avrPto genes which reduce in vivo activity had parallel effects on association in the two-hybrid assay. These data suggest that during infection the pathogen delivers AvrPto into the plant host cell and that resistance is specified by direct interaction of Pto with AvrPto.
PMID: 8953034 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]