Agrobacterium tumefaciens: a Transformative Agent for Fundamental Insights into Host-Microbe Interactions, Genome Biology, Chemical Signaling, and Cell Biology

Structural and functional diversity of type IV secretion systems

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in the structural and molecular biology of type IV secretion systems in Gram-negative bacteria. The latest advances have substantially improved our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the recruitment and delivery of DNA and protein substrates to the extracellular environment or target cells. In this Review, we aim to summarize these exciting structural and molecular biology findings and to discuss their functional implications for substrate recognition, recruitment and translocation, as well as the biogenesis of extracellular pili. We also describe adaptations necessary for deploying a breadth of processes, such as bacterial survival, host-pathogen interactions and biotic and abiotic adhesion. We highlight the functional and structural diversity that allows this extremely versatile secretion superfamily to function under different environmental conditions and in different bacterial species. Additionally, we emphasize the importance of further understanding the mechanism of type IV secretion, which will support us in combating antimicrobial resistance and treating type IV secretion system-related infections.

Recent advances in electrochemical aptasensors and genosensors for the detection of pathogens

In recent years, pathogenic microorganisms have caused significant mortality rates and antibiotic resistance and triggered exorbitant healthcare costs. These pathogens often have high transmission rates within human populations. Rapid diagnosis is crucial in controlling and reducing the spread of pathogenic infections. The diagnostic methods currently used against individuals infected with these pathogens include relying on outward symptoms, immunological-based and, some biomolecular ones, which mainly have limitations such as diagnostic errors, time-consuming processes, and high-cost platforms. Electrochemical aptasensors and genosensors have emerged as promising diagnostic tools for rapid, accurate, and cost-effective pathogen detection. These bio-electrochemical platforms have been optimized for diagnostic purposes by incorporating advanced materials (mainly nanomaterials), biomolecular technologies, and innovative designs. This review classifies electrochemical aptasensors and genosensors developed between 2021 and 2023 based on their use of different nanomaterials, such as gold-based, carbon-based, and others that employed other innovative assemblies without the use of nanomaterials. Inspecting the diagnostic features of various sensing platforms against pathogenic analytes can identify research gaps and open new avenues for exploration.

An aerotaxis receptor influences invasion of Agrobacterium tumefaciens into its host

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil-borne pathogenic bacterium that causes crown gall disease in many plants. Chemotaxis offers A. tumefaciens the ability to find its host and establish infection. Being an aerobic bacterium, A. tumefaciens possesses one chemotaxis system with multiple potential chemoreceptors. Chemoreceptors play an important role in perceiving and responding to environmental signals. However, the studies of chemoreceptors in A. tumefaciens remain relatively restricted. Here, we characterized a cytoplasmic chemoreceptor of A. tumefaciens C58 that contains an N-terminal globin domain. The chemoreceptor was designated as Atu1027. The deletion of Atu1027 not only eliminated the aerotactic response of A. tumefaciens to atmospheric air but also resulted in a weakened chemotactic response to multiple carbon sources. Subsequent site-directed mutagenesis and phenotypic analysis showed that the conserved residue His100 in Atu1027 is essential for the globin domain's function in both chemotaxis and aerotaxis. Furthermore, deleting Atu1027 impaired the biofilm formation and pathogenicity of A. tumefaciens. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that Atu1027 functions as an aerotaxis receptor that affects agrobacterial chemotaxis and the invasion of A. tumefaciens into its host.

Three genes controlling streptomycin susceptibility in Agrobacterium fabrum

Streptomycin (Sm) is a commonly used antibiotic for its efficacy against diverse bacteria. The plant pathogen Agrobacterium fabrum is a model for studying pathogenesis and interkingdom gene transfer. Streptomycin-resistant variants of A. fabrum are commonly employed in genetic analyses, yet mechanisms of resistance and susceptibility to streptomycin in this organism have not previously been investigated. We observe that resistance to a high concentration of streptomycin arises at high frequency in A. fabrum, and we attribute this trait to the presence of a chromosomal gene (strB) encoding a putative aminoglycoside phosphotransferase. We show how strB, along with rpsL (encoding ribosomal protein S12) and rsmG (encoding a 16S rRNA methyltransferase), modulates streptomycin sensitivity in A. fabrum. IMPORTANCE The plant pathogen Agrobacterium fabrum is a widely used model bacterium for studying biofilms, bacterial motility, pathogenesis, and gene transfer from bacteria to plants. Streptomycin (Sm) is an aminoglycoside antibiotic known for its broad efficacy against gram-negative bacteria. A. fabrum exhibits endogenous resistance to somewhat high levels of streptomycin, but the mechanism underlying this resistance has not been elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that this resistance is caused by a chromosomally encoded streptomycin-inactivating enzyme, StrB, that has not been previously characterized in A. fabrum. Furthermore, we show how the genes rsmG, rpsL, and strB jointly modulate streptomycin susceptibility in A. fabrum.