A Highly Efficient Bioassay System for Screening Ralstonia solanacearum Mutants with Altered Virulence
Lin. Y-M Chou. I-C Cheng. C-P
Taiwania ; 2008 [Vol.53] Pages:116-123
Abstract
Ralstonia solanacearum, the causing agent of crop bacterial wilt, is a devastating bacterium with an unusually wide host range. To effectively integrate durable resistance to R. solanacearum into crops, comprehensive and global information on pathogenesis mechanisms employed by this pathogen is important. In this study, we report the development of an efficient Arabidopsis-based bioassay system useful for screening of large number of bacterium mutants with altered virulence. The effectiveness and uniqueness of this system was further demonstrated by the isolation of R. solanacearum mutants exhibiting differential pathogenesis and in vitro characteristics, and by the identification of mutants with the transposon inserted in known and novel loci. This highly efficient bioassay system, together with the accompanying in planta and in vitro bioassay systems described here, would facilitate comprehensive study on R. solanacearum pathogenesis mechanisms.
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