ArticlePLoS pathogens2016
Escaping Underground Nets: Extracellular DNases Degrade Plant Extracellular Traps and Contribute to Virulence of the Plant Pathogenic Bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.
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50 citing papers in PubMed, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Purine-based infochemicals and immunometabolites: a comparative review of emerging signaling pathways in plants and animals.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Differential root zone secretions and the role of root border cells in rhizosphere manipulation.Phytochemistry reviews : proceedings of the Phytochemical Society of Europe · 2025Review
- Exploring the Role of Macrophages and Their Associated Structures in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Journal of innate immunity · 2025Review
- Flg22-facilitated PGPR colonization in root tips and control of root rot.Molecular plant pathology · 2024Article
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- Unveiling the Core Effector Proteins of Oil Palm PathogenJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Bacterial hitchhikers derive benefits from fungal housing.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- The Expanding Role of Extracellular Traps in Inflammation and Autoimmunity: The New Players in Casting Dark Webs.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Nitrogen fixation and mucilage production on maize aerial roots is controlled by aerial root development and border cell functions.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Pathogen-Derived Nucleases: An Effective Weapon for Escaping Extracellular Traps.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Trehalose increases tomato drought tolerance, induces defenses, and increases resistance to bacterial wilt disease.PloS one · 2022Article
- Complete Genome Sequence Analysis ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Plant root border cells have been recently recognized as an important physical defense against soil-borne pathogens. Root border cells produce an extracellular matrix of protein, polysaccharide and DNA that functions like animal neutrophil extracellular traps to immobilize pathogens. Exposing pea root border cells to the root-infecting bacterial wilt pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum triggered release of DNA-containing extracellular traps in a flagellin-dependent manner. These traps rapidly immobilized the pathogen and killed some cells, but most of the entangled bacteria eventually escaped. The R. solanacearum genome encodes two putative extracellular DNases (exDNases) that are expressed during pathogenesis, suggesting that these exDNases contribute to bacterial virulence by enabling the bacterium to degrade and escape root border cell traps. We tested this hypothesis with R. solanacearum deletion mutants lacking one or both of these nucleases, named NucA and NucB. Functional studies with purified proteins revealed that NucA and NucB are non-specific endonucleases and that NucA is membrane-associated and cation-dependent. Single ΔnucA and ΔnucB mutants and the ΔnucA/B double mutant all had reduced virulence on wilt-susceptible tomato plants in a naturalistic soil-soak inoculation assay. The ΔnucA/B mutant was out-competed by the wild-type strain in planta and was less able to stunt root growth or colonize plant stems. Further, the double nuclease mutant could not escape from root border cells in vitro and was defective in attachment to pea roots. Taken together, these results demonstrate that extracellular DNases are novel virulence factors that help R. solanacearum successfully overcome plant defenses to infect plant roots and cause bacterial wilt disease.
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