Biological role of pigment production for the bacterial phytopathogen Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii.

Mojtaba Mohammadi, Lindsey Burbank, M Caroline Roper

Applied and environmental microbiology 2012 Oct

filter terms:

Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii, the causal agent of Stewart's wilt of sweet corn, produces a yellow carotenoid pigment. A nonpigmented mutant was selected from a bank of mutants generated by random transposon mutagenesis. The transposon insertion site was mapped to the crtB gene, encoding a putative phytoene synthase, an enzyme involved in the early steps of carotenoid biosynthesis. We demonstrate here that the carotenoid pigment imparts protection against UV radiation and also contributes to the complete antioxidant pathway of P. stewartii. Moreover, production of this pigment is regulated by the EsaI/EsaR quorum-sensing system and significantly contributes to the virulence of the pathogen in planta.

Citation

Mojtaba Mohammadi, Lindsey Burbank, M Caroline Roper. Biological role of pigment production for the bacterial phytopathogen Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii. Applied and environmental microbiology. 2012 Oct;78(19):6859-65